Discordia
by circxe
Summary: She kissed him hard and said, "You fell in love with a storm. Did you really think you would get out unscathed?" In a world designed to break you down systematically to obey every pin drop instruction, where the slightest misdemeanour could mean death, sovereignty breeds resentment which ultimately leads to rebellion. Jinny Shumway was epitome of brilliance, but even stars fall.
1. Act I

**Extract from Ark Terminal Logs**  
 **Year 2148 CE**

* * *

 _She could feel her heart beating with every painful second, syncing together with the binary codes that flashed across the screen. A dance of digital life in its most elementary form_ — _like the atoms that constituted the physical realm._

 ** _._**

 **01000010**  
 **01000101**  
 **01010100**  
 **01010010**  
 **01000001**  
 **01011001**  
 **01000001**  
 **01001100**

 **.**

 _Her veins were made of fire, a heady mix of exhilaration and trepidation combining to form a deadly poison through her blood stream. If she bled, ichor would flow freely from the wound and mortal men would weep for shame of her ethereal beauty._

 ** _._**

 **CALLIBRATING SYSTEM**

 **.**

 _The final frontier of her carefully laid out design; intricate in its execution and exquisitely detailed to perfection. Athena herself would envy the strategy maps that unfolded before her eyes and crown her with the constellations of battlefields won._

 ** _._**

 **INITIALISING**

 **.**

 _The apotheosis of her brilliance; years of elegant lies and journeys into the hidden corners of space. Nobody else knew the secrets that she knew, her mind was a vault to the paradoxes of the universe._

 ** _._**

 **100% COMPLETE**

 **.**

 _Success was an intimate friend, a comrade that upheld its vows and duties; a gentle guiding force that illuminated the world that she held from her fingertips._

 **.**

 **WARNING**

 **TOTAL SYSTEM FAILURE**

 **.**

 _He was the error that she had failed to foresee; the mistake that burned the cathedral of her divine victories._

 **.**

 **❝ WHAT HAVE YOU DONE? ❞**

 **.**

It was a mistake, you said. But the cruel thing was, it felt like the mistake was mine, for trusting you.


	2. morse code

**CHAPTER 00**

* * *

 **AT EXACTLY THE SAME TIME** every evening when the Guard patrolled the lockup for the delinquents, someone would play the harmonica in one of the cells. It was always just a series of random noises, as if the player had no concept of what music actually sounded like. The room would echo with its dissonant cries, spilling out into the hallway through splintered cracks for others to hear. To some, it was a grievance and others thought it a godsend from the monotony of their daily cells. Nobody knew what it was supposed to mean—unless they knew morse code.

 **Y.O.U. A.R.E. T.H.E. B.I.G.G.E.S.T. A.S.S. I.N. T.H.E. U.N.I.V.E.R.S.E.**

It was an inside joke that ran rampant around the Sky Box—the solitary ghost that lived in the corner cell. None have ever had the pleasure of catching a glimpse of the illusive inmate, or even knowing exactly how long she had been in there with them. Rumours about her were ever evolving and adapting to new culminations of the imagination. Jinny Shumway was as mysterious as the dark side of the moon, an enigma that shrouded herself in incomprehensible shadows. Once, she held her head high as people looked up to her in reverence—the quintessence of humanity's limitless potential. Her mind worked in unfathomable ways, building intricate scaffolds that reached the highest heavens of knowledge. She had wasted it all away on a decadent dream.

The door to her room suddenly opened with a loud slam, causing her to start in surprise and abandon her past time of coding various expletives. The Commander's all too familiar presence strode inside with unyielding authority, his sharp eyes set on her with a perturbed frown. Jinny stared back at him defiantly, eyebrow raised; it wasn't everyday that she got to see her father in the very flesh. Visits had always been limited to a need to know basis.

"Get up," he ordered.

Jinny gave him a disgruntled look that clearly asked him to go float himself. The Commander sighed with impatience, before marching over to grab her arm roughly. He pulled her up onto her feet and swiped the harmonica from her hands.

"You need to listen very carefully." His voice and expression were carved from the gravest stone as he peered at her with urgency.

"What the hell are you talking about?" she asked in a low tone, clearly unimpressed by his theatrics.

Someone started shouting hysterically outside and Jinny's curiosity was piqued from her recognition of the voice. She started towards the door but Commander Shumway pulled her back sharply. His eyes were hard as he glanced towards the corridor outside before tightening his grip on her arm. The next thing he said sent a wave of icy trepidation and excitement rushing through her veins.

"The Council has decided; they're sending all of you to the ground."

"Wow," she scoffed out in disbelief. "Blasting people off into space isn't entertaining enough for them?"

He shot her a disapproving glare. "This isn't the time."

"Commander Shumway!" One of the Guards came through the open door. The burly blonde man took one look at her before backing out again. Jinny was pleased to know that she still had that effect on people.

Her father continued more coaxingly. "We can make a deal with the Chancellor if you just tell them—"

Jinny scowled distastefully. "No. Screw the Chancellor, screw this."

"We don't know whether the ground is actually survivable or not," he hissed.

"We would've if I had gotten my way," she replied bitterly. "They wanna send us to the ground? Let them."

Without waiting for a response, she tore her arm out of his grip and ran out of the room. Jinny took a cursory glance around the Sky Box as about a hundred teenagers flocked out of their cells towards the main entrance, shepherded by dozens of uniformed guards. Furious shouts and yells rang throughout the block in a bedlam of riotous confusion. Her periphery caught sight of two people down the corridor a few cells from hers and Jinny quickly made her way towards them as the Commander came through the door.

"Dr. Griffin," she addressed as she approached them.

"Jinny?" The woman looked up at her as she cradled her unconscious daughter in her arms. "They're sending all the prisoners to the dropship."

Someone grabbed Jinny's arm and she felt multiple needles pierce her wrist as the junior guard secured a metal band around it. She shook him off and briefly examined the contraption before turning around to look at her father. He gave her a withering stare from across the hall, dissatisfaction clearly marked on his face. Without so much as a farewell, she made her way down the Sky Box to converge with the rest of the crowd as they jostled through the narrow walkway.

"Jinny! Oh, my God, is that really you?" A familiar voice called out and she looked around to find a younger boy pushing through the moving wall of bodies towards her. She recognised him from her days of scoping out potential recruits for the Guard. "So the rumours were true, you _are_ alive! Do you know what's happening?"

She couldn't help the sly grin that spread across her face as Miller caught up to pace with her. He glanced at her expectantly, an agitated frown on his brows as he waited for an answer.

"We're taking Earth back."

* * *

 **[ author's note ]**

 _thank you so much for reading this story and please leave a review if you like it!_

 _i worked really hard on this so i hope you enjoy it :)_


	3. drop beat

**CHAPTER 01**

* * *

 **HER NEW LIFE BEGAN WITH A BANG** as the dropship penetrated the Earth's atmosphere with a blazing spark, transient in its voyage to return home. Jinny's bones rattled and beads of sweat dotted her upper lip as she clenched the straps of her seat tightly. A couple of boys who had unbuckled themselves during the zero gravity interval slammed against the wall, cracking the pipes that lined it. Steam hissed out, sending a tuft of humid air into their faces. Several screams and cries of fear rang throughout the cabin when an electrical discharge suddenly surged overhead.

"Oh, God, we're gonna die!" Miller shouted beside her.

"I don't plan on dying today," she told him, ducking her head low as more sparks erupted above them.

There was a sharp jerk as the parachutes deployed in time and the unmistakable blast of the retrorockets firing from the bottom of the ship uplifted them for a second. Jinny held her breath when she felt the deep lurch in her stomach as the ship plummeted to the ground in a rough landing. She braced herself for the shuddering jolts of the collision, wincing instinctively from the impact before they came to an abrupt stop. There was a brief moment as everyone looked around uncertainly at the now cold ship.

"Listen..." someone said. "No machine hum."

"Holy shit, we're alive," Miller said in awe.

"Congratulations," Jinny smirked back at him. He held his hand up and they gave each other a high five.

Her hands then immediately went to work unbuckling the various straps that had secured her in place. She threw them off and stood up, making her way towards the hatch and marking her as the first in line to whatever that laid in wait for them on the lower level. The moment she jumped down from the ladder and her boots fell heavily against the hard metal, her heart came to a screeching halt.

There was a guard standing in front of the main door and for a split second, she thought her father had followed her down to the ground. Upon closer scrutiny, she realised that it couldn't have been her father at all and she frowned in confusion. The man was tall, with olive skin and black hair that was neatly swept back, curling lightly at the tips. His face was clean shaven, a soft cleft in his chin with a strong jawline, and—

"Bellamy?" A girl descended from the ladder and started towards him.

Jinny inhaled sharply as she retreated into the shadows, intermingling amongst the throng of teenagers that crowded around the exit. They were already starting to whisper in hushed voices about the pair in front of them but all Jinny could think about was how and why; disbelief as well as dismay filling her to the brim. Their brief conversation flew over her as her thoughts stormed with dissent.

A new voice suddenly interrupted. "Where's your wristband?"

"Do you mind? I haven't seen my brother in a year." Octavia turned around, her tone laced with annoyance.

"No one has a brother!" someone shouted from the back.

"That's Octavia Blake, the girl they found hidden under the floor!"

The slim brunette lunged forwards but Bellamy caught her in time. "Octavia! Octavia, no!"

Jinny felt cool metal as she bumped her back against the far wall. She could barely see what was happening by the door but Octavia's face was visible through a crack between the bodies, looking like she was about to cut someone. It felt like eons had passed since the last time Jinny had laid eyes on her; all the softness left in the girl had been carved into hard edges of steel and marble.

"Let's give them something else to remember you by," Bellamy suggested.

"Yeah?" She turned to him and shrugged his hand off her arm. "Like what?"

"Like being the first person to step on Earth in a hundred years," he smirked widely.

Octavia started to grin and he turned around to grab hold of the lever by the side. The lock disengaged with a mechanical whir and steam flew out from the depressurisation, then they were engulfed in a searing white light. Jinny squinted her eyes at the intrusion, imagining her pupils contracting with distaste. People started to shuffle about, trying to get a better look through the opening, and blocking her view entirely at the same time. Someone in front took a deep breath of air and a moment later, there was an audible crunch.

"We're back, bitches!" Octavia screamed into their new beyond.

Almost instantaneously, the group of teenagers cheered ecstatically as they ran out of the dropship into the vibrant woodland. Jinny felt completely exposed as she was left behind by everyone, lowering her hand hesitantly as she adapted to the light. Her eyes darted around to take in their new environment, feeling her heart elate with wonder. She ventured down the ramp, stepping onto dried foliage of different hues and curling her toes at the satisfying sound that the soles of her boots made.

The gentle breeze in the air brought the cloying smells of green verdure and the soft soil beneath her feet was an unfamiliar sensation to take in. Jinny dug her heels into the earth, marvelling at its malleability, so unlike the rigid metal her hands were used to tampering with. The sun speckled leaves swayed above her, with dancing branches that were interconnected in a series of networks that cascaded over them. She was surrounded by images that she had only ever imagined from looking at picture books when she was younger. The colours, so vivid and ethereal, smeared across her vision in a wild daze of transcendence. She took everything in at once with a sweeping gaze; the earth was habitable—there was _life_.

A sudden explosion startled her from her jubilation, sending a torrent of sparks and black smoke sizzling through the air. The ruin of the dropship stood high in front of her and reality soon seeped in with the dread.

"Shit." Jinny quickly ran back inside and anxiously climbed up the ladder to the top level. She stepped back into the cabin before almost stumbling over in surprise. "Holy crap, you scared me!" she breathed out, hand flying to her chest. "I thought everyone jacked out of here."

"What are you doing back in here?" The dark skinned boy raised a questioning eyebrow at her. She recognised him as the Chancellor's son; regaining her composure and making her way towards him with aplomb.

"What are you doing _still_ in here?" she shot back and they exchanged knowing looks.

"The circuit board's fried, probably through entry," he told her, pointing at the box in question. "Comms are down too, and I can't get the system to boot up."

Jinny looked around and found a small window to the side. She jogged forwards and jumped onto the top of a seat, using the momentum to propel herself upwards and catching the ledge with her fingers. Wells went over and watched as she shimmied her way up the wall and popped the window open with her elbow. She briefly looked over the anarchy unfolding on the ground below and an amused laugh bubbled out from her curved lips.

"They're adorable, aren't they?" She turned back to Wells before lifting a foot onto the ledge. "C'mon, let's check the panels out."

"Do you think we could fix them?" the boy asked hopefully as he followed after her.

"If they're even still there—maybe," she replied with a grunt.

They climbed onto the steel structure carefully and clambered upwards to the roof with some effort. Jinny inspected the mess of exposed wires and missing hardware that dismantled during the landing. The extensive damage made her heart sink and she exchanged disappointed glances with Wells. There was no way that they could repair the consoles without any equipment at their disposal. With a burden now on their disturbed shoulders, they made their way back into the dropship.

"It's dead," she sighed. "A dozen panels missing, maybe more. I don't know why they built this thing so archaic."

"It's not like we had a lot of resources," he told her quietly. "Everything looks fried, nothing's working..."

"We're stranded," she stated plainly.

She looked around, trying to find something to salvage, when she noticed the metal band on his wrist. It was the exact replica as hers and she grabbed his hand to compare the two, eyebrows furrowing in thought.

"Are they tagging us with these things?" she asked.

"Yeah, it's sending our vitals back to the Ark," he answered.

Jinny nodded in understanding, then walked back towards the hatch when Wells called out to her. His eyes were wary but they also held a certain amount of regard in them.

"You're Commander Shumway's daughter, right?" he started slowly. "Irma's daughter?"

"No idea what you're talking about," she responded before sliding down the ladder to the lower level.

The young woman jogged out through the opening, looking around for a blonde head while racking through her memory banks. She remembered seeing the Griffin girl holding a map earlier. Rowdy teenagers continued to run amok, shouting excitedly as they pointed to novel wonders and causing general mayhem to their new surroundings. To her left, she finally spotted Clarke and took a step in the girl's direction.

"Jin!"

Jinny groaned inwardly at the familiar voice and a moment later, someone had enveloped her in a tight hug. Her body tensed instinctively before the arms pulled away and Octavia grinned up at her with exuberance.

"I haven't seen you in years!" the younger girl exclaimed.

"Really? Felt like twenty minutes ago," Jinny replied dryly.

"How've you been?" Octavia took her hands and swung them to the side. "I missed you so much!"

"We all did." His voice boomed like thunder to her ears, sending reverberations throughout her entire body that resonated in her very molecules.

Jinny reluctantly brought her eyes up to look at the man standing a few feet in front of her. He gave her a genuine smile, eyes bright and hopeful, an exact replica of how she remembered him to be in her still vivid memories. Bellamy Blake, the only person in the entire universe that knew all the delicate strings and intricate patterns in her configuration.

"Hey, Jin," he said. "Long time no see."

She almost wished she had been ejected from the dropship in midspace.


	4. hardly salvageable

**CHAPTER 02**

* * *

 **WHEN FIRE MEETS GASOLINE** the resultant inferno was something to fear. It burned her insides with relentless fervour, trapped within the scorched confines of her chest. Her experiences had been what shaped her into who she was now—twenty-two years of adept lying. She felt her lips stretch to the sides and eyes curve to mimic a reciprocal smile.

Jinny stepped away from Octavia and towards the older boy—it was still hard to think of him as a man—he was always that cadet boy to her. She poked him in the chest with a finger, twisting it in the air with an exaggerated flourish. Bellamy continued to look at her expectantly and she thought she might take pleasure in what she was going to say next.

"I remember you." Her eyes stared deep into his. "The guy that got me arrested."

Bellamy's face fell instantly and a flash of disappointment intruded the depths of his dark cinnamon eyes with the bitterness of undiluted coffee. Jinny's mouth twisted in a cruel sneer at his silence before walking away to pick up on her previous agenda, hearing Octavia start to question her brother in hushed tones. Seeing his face again ignited a series of heated emotions that only served to agitate her as she made her way towards Clarke.

Wells was already telling the blonde about the broken comms when Jinny stopped next to them. "We're flying blind on our own," she said, flicking hair from her face. "And we don't know what to expect. Is there anything on your end?"

Clarke blinked at her in mild surprise but like Wells, there was silent regard and recognition in her blue eyes. "All that matters right now is getting to Mount Weather," she informed before turning to the map in front of her and marking lines across it. "According to my calculations, this is where we landed and this is where we need to get to if we want to survive."

Jinny crossed her arms and pressed her lips against a knuckle thoughtfully. "So we landed off course. We need those supplies."

She turned to Wells for his input but the boy seemed to be preoccupied with another matter. "Where'd you learn to do that?" he asked quietly, eyes set on the navigation points laid across the map.

Clarke glanced at him before lowering her gaze stonily.

"Your father—"

"Ooh, a map!" A lanky boy with goggles came up from behind them, smiling cheekily at the ladies. "Got a bar in this town? I'll buy you a beer."

Jinny snorted in amusement just as Wells cocked his head to the side in mild annoyance before pushing him away. She turned back around to examine Clarke's map, picking it up and leaning against the part of the dropship that had collapsed to offer a makeshift seat. A gang of boys came up to them then, carrying sticks that acted as crude weapons. Their leader had dark hair and pale skin, wearing a scowl on his lips.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa—he's with us," he said, approaching them with a confrontational demeanour.

"Relax." Wells let go of Goggles and held his hands up as a peace offering. "We're just trying to figure out where we are."

"We're on the ground, that not good enough for you?" Bellamy asked loudly from the distance and Jinny had to roll her eyes.

"We need to find Mount Weather." Wells started towards him and Clarke followed. They probably figured that they could trust a guard—or at least someone who looked like one. "You heard my father's message. That has to be our first priority."

"Screw your father," Octavia spat. "What? You think you're in charge here? You and your little princess?"

Jinny's dark eyes watched with faint interest above the top of her map. They hadn't even been there for a full hour and there was already a petty argument occurring. Some things just never changed.

"Do you think we care who's in charge?" Clarke retorted. "We _need_ to get to Mount Weather! Not because the Chancellor said so—because the longer we wait, the hungrier we'll get and the harder this will be. How long do you think we'll last without those supplies? We're looking at a twenty mile trek, okay? So if we wanna get there before dark, we need to leave. Now."

"I got a better idea," Bellamy interjected. "You two go. Find it for us. Let the privileged do the hard work for a change."

"Yeah!" The delinquents chorused around them. "Do it!"

"You're not listening," Wells said as calmly as possible. "We _all_ need to go!"

The pale boy from earlier ran up and shoved Wells in the back whilst sniggering. "Look at this, everybody. The Chancellor of Earth," he sneered.

"You think that's funny?" Wells asked angrily as laughter broke out.

Gang Leader lunged forwards, tripping the boy by kicking at his leg. Wells fell to the ground with a loud grunt and a few cheers erupted. Clarke called out worriedly but another boy held her back from trying to help. Jinny started forwards to observe the fight as a crowd circled the two to egg them on. She folded her arms and glanced at a jeering Miller beside her.

Wells stood up, wincing and readjusting his stance from an injury to his ankle, before grounding himself stubbornly with his fists held high. Gang Leader threw a fake punch to mock him and was about to go in for a real strike when someone dropped in between them from the side of the dropship.

Jinny raised her eyebrows in mild surprise when she saw that it was Finn Collins. She had known him back on the Ark, courtesy of one of her partners in crime. He had asked for a favour once, to make sure that the coast was clear when he supposedly went on that illegal spacewalk.

"Kid's got one leg." Finn cocked his head to Wells and Gang Leader stopped short. "How 'bout you wait till it's a fair fight, huh?"

"Hey, Space Walker!" Octavia called, skipping over with a coquettish smile playing on the side of her lips and dispersing the tension from the brief altercation. "Rescue me next."

Finn chuckled as he looked at her and gang kid backed off, pulling his friends along with him. The crowd started to disperse and Bellamy approached his sister with a raised eyebrow.

"What?" She shrugged. "He's cute."

"He's a criminal," he told her.

"Jinny's a criminal." Octavia pointed in a low voice. "Apparently, you made that happen."

"Look." Bellamy grabbed her arm and pulled her away. "I came down here to protect you!"

They started to argue a few feet away and Jinny turned her attention to Wells instead. Clarke was examining his ankle on the ground and it seemed like he wasn't up for a journey anymore. The brunette woman sat down on the trunk of a fallen tree that had been knocked down by the dropship and crossed her arms again. Finn came back and punched her lightly on the shoulder.

"I thought I was dreaming when I saw you," he proclaimed with a wide grin. "Jinny, the Sneak. How are you not dead yet?"

"Hey, Space Boy," she greeted him back with a mischievous sparkle in her eyes. "I won a bet against the Chancellor and got diplomatic immunity for life."

"I see you haven't changed." He shook his head with a laugh before turning to Clarke. "So when are we going to Mount Weather?"

"Right now," the girl replied while standing up. "We'll be back tomorrow with food."

"How are the three of you going to carry food enough for one hundred?" Wells asked skeptically.

"Who said I was going?" Jinny frowned.

"What?" Clarke exclaimed. "But we need you! There's a radiation soaked forest separating us from our next meal. Like you said, we don't know what to expect."

Jinny shrugged nonchalantly and jabbed her thumb at Finn. "You got him, you'll be fine. There's something else I need to do here."

"Like what?" The blonde furrowed her brows in disbelief.

"If I told you, I'd have to kill you," Jinny replied seriously. Finn motioned for Clarke not to pry further.

Wells raised an eyebrow. "So it's just the two of you."

Finn held up a finger before jogging over and clapping his hands on the shoulders of two kids. It was Goggles and his Asian friend. They turned around to look at them with mildly bewildered expressions and Finn grinned widely once more.

"Now there's four of us," he said smugly. "Can we go now?"

"Sounds like a party!" Octavia skipped over to them and everyone turned to look at her questioningly. "Make it five!"

"Hey!" Bellamy quickly ran over. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Going for a relaxing stroll," she replied flippantly.

Clarke suddenly reached out to grab Finn's hand and examined his wristband with scrutinising eyes. There were obvious dents across its surface. "Were you trying to take this off?" she asked with an undertone of disbelief.

"Yeah. So?" Finn responded.

"So this wristband transmits your vital signs to the Ark," she told him sternly. "Take it off and they'll think you're dead."

"Should I care?" he questioned with an insouciant tone.

"Well, I don't know. Do you want the people you love to think you're dead?" she shot back. "Do you want them to follow you down here in two months because they won't if they think we're dying."

"Great, I don't want my dad to follow me down here anyway," Jinny said.

Clarke shook her head at her. "You don't mean that."

"Whatever," she muttered before standing up from her perch on the tree trunk. "You guys better go. Bring back some food 'cause the flowers are too pretty for me to eat."

She patted the dirt off the back of her pants as Clarke heeded her words and nodded to the others. Jinny quickly made her escape when she saw Bellamy begrudgingly bestow his sister permission to follow them. The younger girl kissed him on the cheek and bounded off to catch up with Finn and the rest. The crowd of unruly teenagers had more or less settled down by then and milled about in groups in an attempt to look civilised.

Jinny slunk back into the dropship and hid herself on the upper level. She looked around and ran her hand along the communications panel with a remorseful sigh. Her fingers rapped against the cool metal before curling over the edge and trying to rip the top apart. It gave way slightly from the previous trauma that the ship sustained but she still needed tools to disassemble it.

She started towards one of the seats, tripping across the two bodies that she had completely forgotten about. "Man," she muttered under her breath. "What a way to go, dudes."

Stepping over them carefully, she reached a chair and began to unfasten the metal parts one by one. Jinny continued to rip the dropship apart, fashioning rudimentary tools from the metal scraps or piling them on the side for later use. She thought about building a new motherboard using the intact parts from all the others. There were a couple of microprocessors that seemed undamaged but she would need to repair the burnt mainframe as well. Jinny ran a hand through her dark hair and let out a groan of frustration. Why couldn't things ever be easy?

She paused in thought as an idea formed in her mind.

Then a pair of boots thumped loudly on the metal floor behind her, causing Jinny to drop the circuit board in her hands from surprise. It rang throughout the cabin with a loud clamour that made her wince before she whirled around to glare at the intruder.

"I thought you'd be in here scavenging." The young man smirked at her. "You haven't changed at all."

Jinny groaned out loud in vexation and bent down to swipe her panel off the floor. "Bellamy, go away," she growled warningly.

"What? No hug for an old friend?" He shrugged his shoulders while walking towards her. The smirk remained on his face but his eyes were as sharp as swords. "You know what happened wasn't my fault."

"You think two years would have changed my memory?" she asked scornfully as she turned around and picked up a shard of glass in her hand. She grasped it tightly.

"I thought they were going to float you." His footsteps grew closer and she could feel his presence radiating from behind her.

"Yeah, well, shit happens."

He spun her around and she flashed the shard across the narrow space between them. Bellamy moved back an inch but continued to hold her arms in a firm grip. They stared each other down fiercely, whatever shred of familiarity she used to share with him had already been severed since the day she was thrown into solitary. He was just an annoying nuisance to her now, somebody who knew too much about her past that she couldn't lie to.

"Why didn't they float you?" he asked, a deep frown replacing the nonchalant mask he previously wore.

"Maybe I'm just really charming," she replied almost scathingly.

He scoffed a laugh before letting go of her and she took a step away from him. Jinny kept her face in an impenetrable veil but her eyes were spitting coals. Bellamy sighed and said, "I'm sorry, okay? It was a mistake."

"You think _sorry_ can just undo what you did?" she hissed at him with narrowed eyes.

"No." His voice was soft but firm. "I know it's too late for that. But we have a chance to start over now, can't you see?"

"I don't see," she retorted venomously.

"We're on the _ground_ ," he said, voice dropping with breathless excitement. "We can do whatever we want here, no more laws that'll get us floated."

"Great," she deadpanned. "Good for you."

"Except for one problem." He grabbed her hand and nodded to the band around her wrist. "If they think we're dying, they won't come down."

She shook her head in irritation and broke free from his grip. "Are you serious?"

"C'mon, Jin, you think when the others come down here, we'll be off the hook?" he questioned. "Think about Octavia, remember what her life was like. The other kids—they know who you are. You can convince them to take the bands off."

Jinny glanced down at her wristband and the blank screen that was embedded in its metal, the gears in her brain turning at hyper speed. Telemetry and key designs ran through her mind as she swiped through the possibilities. She looked back at him and a small scowl marred her delicate features once again.

"Fine," she told him. "But I'm not doing this for you."

He gave a curt nod. "Fine."

Jinny grabbed a few materials from the counter top and stuffed them into her makeshift bag fashioned from chair straps. The woman ran a hand through her hair, messing it up even more than it already was, before turning back to Bellamy. Her eyes scrutinised him briefly and for a split second, she almost remembered the friendship that they had shared so long ago.

"I'm not mad at getting arrested," she finally said, slinging her bag over a shoulder.

He frowned. "Then what?"

Her eyes peered back at him coolly with the quality of crystallised obsidian. Something inside her stirred, a flicker of memory—faint and poignant. "I used to trust you."

"You still can," he said in earnest, features melting away softly.

"Not anymore." Jinny turned away from him and walked towards the hatch.


	5. night riot

**CHAPTER 03**

* * *

 **THE FIRE BURNED BRIGHTLY** , cries of pain ringing throughout the night as Jinny ripped open another wristband. Cheers erupted all around her, hooting and hollering with the drumming of plastic buckets. The metal brace fell to the ground with a dull klunk and she swiftly picked it up before cursing under her breath again. The boy beside her rubbed his sore wrist where red dots decorated his pale skin with a pattern of poorly imitated constellations.

"That really hurt!" he complained and Jinny pushed him away.

"Oh, suck it up," she snapped back in irritation before shouting at the rowdy crowd. "Who's next?"

A girl crouched down beside her to take the boy's place and laid her arm across the large rock in front of them. Jinny positioned her rod at the top of the girl's band to snap it open at the clasp. She examined it again and clicked her tongue in frustration, wiping beads of perspiration from her top lip. The woman flung the useless piece of metal into the fire with pronounced vexation.

Bellamy's deep voice boomed above the tumult. "Anyone else?"

"What the hell are you doing?!" Wells stormed over and threw Jinny a disapproving glance while Bellamy looked to him with an affronted expression. A boy with closely cropped hair and a tanned complexion that they got to know as John Mbege stepped forwards tauntingly but Bellamy stopped him with a hand to the chest. The man turned back to Wells.

"We're liberating ourselves," he said and Jinny rolled her eyes. "What does it look like?"

"It looks like you're trying to get us all killed," Wells retorted. "The communications system is dead. You should know that, Jinny, these wristbands are all we have. Take them off and the Ark will think we're dying—that it's not safe for them to follow!"

"That's the point, Chancellor." Bellamy raised his eyebrows mockingly. "We can take care of ourselves. Can't we?!"

The delinquents erupted with yells of assent and Jinny stood up, throwing her rod to the side. Murphy, the gang leader boy, bent down to pick it up. He gestured towards the rock by the crackling fire and continued where Jinny had left off with the wristbands.

"You think this is a game?" Wells started heatedly, turning around to address everyone. "Those just aren't our friends and parents up there. There are farmers, doctors, engineers. I don't care what he tells you, we won't survive here on our own!"

Bellamy rubbed his chin, a muscle twitching in his jaw with barely contained agitation. There was no doubt that the boy was speaking reason; having the expertise of the people on the Ark would make their lives exponentially easier. Wells turned back to Bellamy challengingly.

"And besides, if it really is safe; how could you not want the rest of our people to come down?"

"My people already are down." Bellamy gestured around before pointing to the sky. "Those people locked my people up." He started forwards. "Those people killed my mother for the crime of having a second child. Your father did that."

"My father didn't write the laws," Wells seethed.

"No, he enforced them." Bellamy shook his head. "But not anymore. Not here. Here, there are no laws. Here, we do whatever the hell we want. Whenever the hell we want!"

"Yeah, that's right!" shouted several people in agreement to his words.

"You don't have to like it, Wells," Bellamy said. "You can even try to stop it or change it. Or kill me. You know why?" A cocky smile spread across his face. "Whatever the hell we want."

"Whatever the hell we want!" Murphy shouted into the crowd and Bellamy raised a hand like a self-satisfied lord as more kids started to pick the line up. It grew into a rising crescendo as the others pumped their fists into the air and chanted almost religiously together.

Wells took a step forwards to the fire, his dark eyes focused on Jinny as he pointed at her angrily. "This is okay with you?! Weren't you the one who checked the comms yourself?"

The woman looked back at him frigidly, her eyes flickering towards Bellamy and the rest of the delinquents. Wells took another step closer to her. "Weren't you the one who wanted to _survive_?" he hissed.

Jinny took a step back from him, an unreadable expression on her face as he glared expectantly for an answer. She raised her hands up at the sides and shrugged her shoulders as the cheers quieted down. Everyone focused their attention on her, eager to hear what she had to say to their claim.

"You're preaching to the pews, Wells," she said. "They dropped us down here knowing that we could have died. Your father said so himself that we were expendable. What's to stop 'em from sending another hundred down? Who's to stop us from living our own lives on the ground, Chancellor? Not a damn soul, that's who."

Bellamy nodded his head at her approvingly before yelling out. "The Commander agrees!"

"The Commander agrees!"

Jinny had to refrain from rolling her eyes to the back of her head as the flock rejoiced at their newfound freedom. The look of hurt that crossed Wells' face made her feel a pang of guilt deep within her conscience. She figured that she owed him an explanation and apology once the night was over.

"Whatever the hell we want! Whatever the hell we want!"

Wells' chest started to heave as his face twisted with enmity. He turned around slowly to take the others in, consumed with the convergence of their single group mindedness. Bellamy smirked arrogantly when their eyes met and the tension in the air was almost palpable.

Suddenly, a deep rumble cracked overhead and the racket died down to an uncertain hush as everyone started in surprise. Their eyes gazed up to the darkened sky, a fork of lightning illuminating the blank expanse with galvanising energy. In the next second, rain poured down on them in a heavy deluge. Jinny let out a gasp as the water drenched her completely, soaking into her skin and clothes without remorse. The delinquents exchanged wide-eyed enthusiasm with one another being breaking out into a fervent state of gaiety.

"We need to collect this," Wells said.

"Whatever the hell you want," Bellamy replied and the boy scowled darkly before walking away.

Jinny grabbed a can from a nearby teen and threw it at Bellamy's head. "He's right, dumbass." She then smacked another kid on the shoulder. "Didn't you hear me?! I said collect it!"

They scrambled away as Bellamy slowly turned to her in consternation. Jinny grabbed hold of the man's arm, squinting as rain drops trickled into her eyes. He looked down at her and took her hand, throwing his head back to let the rain wash over him in a moment of contentment. His boyish face was made more youthful with the exhilarated smile that played about his lips and she recalled a time when she would laugh with him.

"Bellamy," she started and he shook his hair like a wet dog.

She scrunched her nose up in disgust before pulling her hand back from his. He laughed at her and cheered into the wild night with the rest of the flock. Someone crashed into her and she stumbled to the side. Bellamy caught her before she got too near the still burning flames. His eyes sparkled under the dancing light that mitigated the shadows, making his face glow orange.

"Loosen up, Commander," he remarked with a smirk. "Or did you forget how?"

She curled her fingers around the collar of his jacket and leaned in close to his face.

"Wells was right," she said, her voice almost a whisper, and he frowned with concentration to listen. Her lips twitched with a small scowl as unbidden memories resurfaced to the forefront of her mind. She could put up as many walls and acts as she wanted to, but there was no denying the lingering sentiments that lurked in the dark.

Bellamy reached out and pushed her matted hair away from her face and she remembered things that she wished she could eternally forget. The rain drops falling down her cheeks felt like the tears she shed when they pulled her mother away from her. Shrill screams from the frolicking teens around them reminded her of the pain she felt tearing through her vocal chords. Her throat constricted tightly as he stroked her head the exact same way he did that night eight years ago.

But it had ended the moment he walked through the doors of the control room.

Jinny pushed him away and his face smoothed into another indecipherable mask. Her hands trembled slightly as she took a deep breath to calm her erratic heart. Then she looked up at him with hatred burning deep in her dark eyes.

"I want to live," she said bitterly before storming away.


	6. translation lost

**CHAPTER 04**

* * *

 **A LION DOES NOT CARE** for the opinions of sheep, and that was exactly what Jinny did when they attempted to take over her dropship. She couldn't stop Bellamy from bunking down in the lower level but she did lock the hatch to the top. The cabin was starting to gain an odor though and she made a mental note to remove the bodies at first light.

The young woman found a row of seats to lie down on, settling herself with a weary sigh. Her body felt weighed down with exhaustion, the muscles in her back sore from burdensome activity. The night was humid and filled with the incessant noise of small insects—almost like the constant hum of the Ark. Her eyelids drooped of their own accord and almost immediately, she fell into a fitful sleep.

 _She was back on the space station, walking down a familiar corridor that she had traversed countless of times before. Reaching an intersection, she pressed herself against the wall and peeked around the corner with an eye before quickly pulling away. Footsteps approached her position, growing nearer with each passing second, and she saw a boot clad foot step out from the adjacent hallway._

 _Jinny pounced, tackling the taller boy and knocking the both of them to the floor in a crash of tangled limbs. Bellamy gave a strangled cry as he flailed his arms about in an attempt to push her off but she clung tightly to the front of his shirt. Then she laughed loudly at the murderous glare he sent her way._

 _"It's not funny, you nearly gave me a heart attack!" he yelled._

 _"Rule One; always be prepared," she said with a smirk before getting off of him and offering a hand to help him up._

 _He grasped hold of her arm, pulling himself back to his feet with ease. Bellamy readjusted his jacket, the dark colours of the uniform making him appear intimidating in the dimly lit corridor. His hair was groomed back from his face in an attempt to look tidy, but she never thought it suited him._

 _"How did you know I was on patrol here?" he asked._

 _She shrugged with an impish smile._ _"I know everyone's patrol route."_

 _"And why aren't you on patrol?" He raised an eyebrow suspiciously._

 _"'Cause I'm not a guard anymore," she replied simply. "I changed jobs."_

 _"What? How? When?" His face fell, aghast. "And how did the Commander take that?"_

 _Jinny paused to look up at him, eyes crinkling at the sides from an amused grin before breaking out into a light laugh. "I'm kidding! I have to take days off from the Guard when Sinclair calls me in to do a systems analysis."_

 _"You can do that?" he asked in bewilderment._

 _"I'm just brilliant that way," she replied without an ounce of humility._

 _He rolled his eyes. "Watch out, I don't think the Ark can handle the weight of your inflated ego."_

 _She chuckled and grabbed hold of his arm. "C'mon, I wanna show you somethin'," she said before dragging him back down the hallway. The older boy allowed her to lead him towards one of the observation windows that spanned a section of the port. Jinny let go of his arm and pressed her hands against the cool glass, not caring whether she left her smudged prints on its clear surface. Her warm breath misted over the window as she leaned in closely._

 _"It's almost time," she told him, eyes wide and searching._

 _"For what?" he asked._

 _"There!" She pointed with a finger and he looked up just in time._

 _A flash erupted in the distance, searing with a bright white light, then a single beam pierced through its epicenter. It burned brightly for a few seconds before exploding into a large dense sphere of red, purple and gold tinctures. The colours swirled and danced in the cataclysmic aftermath, as if freed from the confines of its physical body. It floated in the wake of jealous constellations that would have to wait eons to succeed it. Jinny turned back to Bellamy with another large grin on her face._

 _"Congratulations, you just witnessed the death of a star," she said._

 _"It was so bright," he breathed out, gaping in astonishment with his eyes still trained on the interstellar remnant. "Does that mean it was in our galaxy?"_

 _"No, but it's the brightest supernova our galaxy has seen since Assassin 15LH," she told him. "If it had been anywhere near our galaxy, the entire Milky Way would have disintegrated. It's probably billions of times brighter than our sun for us to be able to see it like that with the naked eye."_

 _"I'm glad space is infinite," he said, glancing at her with a crooked smile._

 _"We are infinite."_

* * *

Jinny woke up with a jolt as someone threw a rock through the open window. It landed a few feet away on her right and she rubbed her face tiredly, her mind still fogged with sleep. Another rock went soaring through the air and fell with a dull ring on the metal floor. Then another.

"Stop it!" she shouted.

There was a pause and she heard Wells' voice from outside. "Open the hatch, Jinny!"

She frowned and went towards the window, climbing up the chair resting underneath it. Her face peered out through the opening down at the boy.

"What do you want?" she snapped grumpily.

He held up the handmade shovels in his hands and she blinked once before realisation dawned on her. Running a hand through her tangled hair, she sighed and nodded her head. "Meet me out front. I'll bring 'em down."

She quickly jumped from the top of the seat and headed towards the opposite side of the cabin. Jinny bent down to pick up the first body's legs and dragged it towards the hatch, then went back for the other one. Opening the cover, she could hear a girlish giggle from the lower level. She ignored it and shoved one of the bodies through the hole. A scream erupted from below and she peered down, not being able to see much from her vantage point. With a huff, she sent the next body tumbling down to another squeal of fright.

Jinny slid down the ladder and her boots landed heavily on the metal floor. She looked around to find an unfamiliar girl staring at her with wide eyes. Behind her was Bellamy with his shirt off, exposing the defined muscles rippling across his torso and brawny arms wrapped around the girl's waist. Jinny blew stray hair from her face with indifference before picking up the legs of a body and dragging it towards the ramp. Someone had fastened a parachute over it and she paused to slap the flap away from her face. Wells was waiting for her right at the threshold.

"The other one's still inside." She jabbed with a thumb.

He darted into the ship and the girl from before made another loud obnoxious cry. Jinny waited with the body on the damp soil and Wells emerged a moment later seemingly flustered. He looked at her with horrified eyes before clearing his throat.

They started to drag the corpses across the camp until they were a good distance away where Wells had found a clearing to set them down on. Jinny took a shovel from him before starting to dig. An awkward silence stretched between the two as they scooped dirt from the ground in tandem. Then her eyes caught sight of something out of place and she stopped to grab the boy's arm.

Wells started unhappily. "What?"

"What happened to your band?" She frowned at the bruised skin of his wrist.

He clenched his jaw and looked away, snatching his arm back from her. Jinny's disquiet deepened as he angrily went back to digging and she leaned against her shovel, pushing it deeper into the ground.

"Bellamy forced you," she stated. "Hey, I'm sorry about last night, okay?"

"I thought you were one of the good ones," he muttered.

She barked out a laugh. "I am the farthest from that! But look, I did it for a reason."

He paused and glanced at her, unable to contain his curiosity. "And what's that?"

"I think I can build a transmitter with 'em, somethin' like a telegraph key. You following?"

"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked in disbelief. "I spent the whole night hating your guts."

Jinny smirked slightly at that. "I grew up learning that I didn't have to explain myself to anyone. Also, I don't want Bellamy to know."

"I thought you and him were pals," Wells commented sourly.

"Gross, don't say that again." She grimaced at the thought before resuming her work.

After about an hour, they had buried the bodies and covered the graves in two long mounds. They left the shovels there, collecting the clothes they had stripped from the deceased boys and headed back to the dropship. A group of delinquents ran past them, yelling excitedly at each other as they tore through the camp with wasteful abandon. As they approached the camp, they could hear the rhythmic sound of drums acting as the soundtrack to the display of couples making out wantonly in the open.

"Wells," she started with a wince and he looked at her questioningly. "I think we actually died and went to hell."

He chuckled before they heard someone calling out to them. They paused and looked to Atom as he made his way over from the front of the dropship. "Where'd you get the clothes?" he asked, cocking his head at the pile in Wells' arms.

"I killed someone," Jinny answered immediately.

Atom frowned in concern, considering the possibility that she was serious, and Wells rolled his eyes. "It's from the two kids who died during the landing," he corrected like the honest kid he was.

"Smart." The other boy nodded and relaxed. "You know, I'll take it from here. There's always a market for—"

"We share based on need!" Wells exclaimed, moving away from Atom's grubby hands. "Just like back home."

"You don't get it, do you, Chancellor?" Bellamy's deep voice questioned loudly as he walked out of the dropship, pushing the parachute to the side with dramatic flair. The girl he was with before stepped out behind him, sashaying her hips as if she'd just won a prized trophy. She stopped next to Bellamy and leaned in to kiss him on the lips before walking away. Jinny couldn't help glaring distastefully at the girl before rolling her eyes at Bellamy so hard that she thought she almost went blind.

He smirked at her. "This is home now," he finished, then walked up to Wells. "Your father's rules no longer apply."

Bellamy quickly grabbed a shirt from Wells' arms and the boy lunged forwards angrily. Atom blocked and pushed him away from the man who was laughing in amusement. "No, no, Atom. Hold up."

Atom stopped and turned to look back at him questioningly. Bellamy held the shirt up in front of him and raised his eyebrows at Wells tauntingly. "You want it back, take it."

Wells glared at him before turning around and throwing the rest of the clothes on the ground behind him. Immediately, a group of boys rushed forwards to claim them like vultures and Atom went to join the fray.

"Is this what you want?" Wells asked Bellamy with indignation. "Chaos?"

"What's wrong with a little chaos?" Bellamy smirked as he pulled the shirt over his head.

"You're such a dick, Bellamy," Jinny commented coolly and he glanced at her in consternation.

"Since when were you two friends, huh?" he asked her.

"Why do you care? I do whatever the hell I want," she mocked.

Bellamy opened his mouth to retort when a scream pierced through the air. It came from the direction of last night's bonfire and everyone ran to inspect the commotion. Jinny slowed down when they reached the clearing, finding Murphy holding a girl's face over a fire pit. Her body trembled pitifully with fear as she struggled against his stronger grip.

"Bellamy!" the boy called. "Check it out. We want the Ark to think that the ground is killing us, right? Figured it'd look better if we suffered a little bit."

Wells darted forwards and shoved Murphy into the dirt, causing him to release the girl who quickly scrambled to a stand and scampered away. The Chancellor's son shook his head at Bellamy, disgust growing in his eyes.

"You can stop this," he said.

"Stop this?" Bellamy asked, watching as Murphy stood up and stomped over. "I'm just getting started."

There was a loud crack as the kid's fist connected with Wells' jaw and the latter boy staggered backwards. Murphy punched him in the middle but Wells retaliated with greater force, their yells and grunts quickly filling the air with the zest of their scuffle. The pale boy charged at Wells with a furious cry, picking him up and sending him down to the ground on his back. Jinny grabbed Bellamy's arm as the surrounding delinquents urged the two teenagers on.

"Hey, you gonna let everyone fight and kill each other?" she hissed at him.

"What if I do?" he retorted.

"Then you're a bigger dick than I thought," she said before starting forwards.

He pulled her back, his grip on her wrist like an iron vice. "You're not going anywhere, Jin."

She considered briefly whether she should knock some sense into his thick skull when Wells had managed to get the upper hand then, punching Murphy repeatedly in the face to submission before staggering to a stand. He addressed Bellamy once more. "Don't you see you can't control this?" he shouted angrily.

Murphy scrambled off the ground, grabbing a knife from his pocket. "You're dead," he growled venomously before rushing forwards.

"Wait!" Bellamy threw Jinny to the side and quickly intercepted the boy. He turned to Wells and offered up his own knife. "Fair fight."

He dropped it in front of Wells' feet and the boy hesitated for a split second before quickly bending down to pick it up. Jinny protested and Bellamy made to grab her again. She kicked his shin sharply, earning a grunt from the man as he stumbled away from her. The woman crossed her arms, eyes still trained uneasily on the two boys in the middle of the clearing.

Murphy made quick jabs at Wells as Jinny watched calculatingly—unsure whether to stop them or let them fight out their disagreements. If Wells did prove himself, maybe the kids would finally lay off on him. She didn't particularly care of either outcome, she just thought that Wells was an asset that she should protect.

"This is for my father!" Murphy shouted, lunging forwards with his knife held high. Wells stepped aside at the last moment, grabbing hold of the boy's jacket and turning him around swiftly.

He pressed his knife against Murphy's throat. "Drop it!" he yelled.

"Wells!" A female voice called out shrilly from the far fringe and everyone turned to find Clarke walking down into the clearing. "Let him go!"

Wells did as told and shoved Murphy back down to the ground. The pale boy jumped up and was about to attack again when Bellamy pulled him back. "Hey, enough! Murphy!"

He then looked around searchingly and found his sister limping into view with the others. He hurried to her with worry on his brows. "Octavia! Are you alright?" He grabbed hold of her and lifted her down from an incline.

"Yeah." She winced visibly.

"You're hurt?" Jinny hurried over to check the makeshift bandage around the girl's thigh. "What's this?"

"Where's the food?" Bellamy turned to Clarke who could only stare back speechlessly.

"We didn't make it to Mount Weather," Finn answered for her, taking a seat on a log.

"What the hell happened out there?!" Bellamy demanded.

"We were attacked," Clarke finally said.

"Attacked? By what?" Wells asked.

"Not what—who," Finn corrected. "Turns out, the last man from the ground who died on the Ark... wasn't the last Grounder."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Jinny frowned. "There are survivors?"

"Yes." Clarke nodded. "Everything we knew about the ground is wrong. But the good news is that we can survive. Radiation won't kill us."

"Yeah, but the bad news is that the Grounders will," Finn said in a low voice.

"Where's the kid with the goggles?" Wells asked, glancing around in hope that he had just overlooked the boy.

Clarke turned to him. "Jasper was hit. They took him."

Jinny raised her eyebrows. "You saw them?"

"No." The blonde shook her head. "He got to the other side of the lake and the Grounders threw a spear into his chest. We ran, then went back, but he was gone."

"They threw a spear into his chest?!" Jinny repeated in disbelief. "And took him? For... what? They gonna eat him? Is he even still alive?"

"We heard him scream." She glanced to the side before grabbing Wells' hand and exclaiming sharply, "Where's your wristband?"

He looked away, almost in shame, before turning back to Bellamy with a look of pure loathing. "Ask him."

"How many?" Clarke asked frostily.

"Twenty four and counting," Murphy announced proudly.

Clarke shook her head. "You idiots," she whispered before raising her voice. "Life support on the Ark is failing! That's why they brought us down here! They need to know that the ground is survivable and we need their help against whoever is out there! If you take off your wristbands, you're not just killing them. You're killing _us_."

"We're stronger than you think," Bellamy countered, walking towards the middle of the clearing to address the delinquents. "Don't listen to her, she's one of the privileged. If they come down, she'll have it good. How many of you can say the same?"

Most of the crowd started to agree, murmuring with one another and nodding their heads.

"We can take care of ourselves! That wristband on your arm makes you a prisoner. We are not prisoners anymore!" A few boys shouted encouragingly to him. "They said they'll forgive your crimes—I say you're not criminals! You're fighters! Survivors! The Grounders should worry about _us_!"

"Yeah!" They threw their hands in the air, cheering once again at another stirring speech.

Jinny scoffed in disgust just as Clarke walked away, fuming. She was about to follow the girl when Bellamy caught her elbow and forcibly held her back. "I need to talk to you," he spoke lowly into her ear.

She looked up at him with disbelief painting her features with a glower, the latent anger in her chest flaring with irrational fervour. That was it; she was done. Wristband or no wristband, she didn't want to have another single thing to do with him anymore.

"Screw you, Bellamy," she growled, shoving him away.


	7. fickle mind

**CHAPTER 05**

* * *

 **VEHEMENT REPULSION FILLED HER** as he grabbed hold of her arm once more and Jinny pulled the knife she stole from her pocket. She pointed it threateningly at his neck, glaring daggers into his eyes, but his grip on her arm didn't falter in the slightest. In fact, Bellamy tightened his hold on her, fingers digging uncomfortably into her skin to leave marks.

"Touch me one more time and I'll skin you," she said menacingly. "Now let go of me."

"You need to gather people," he said through gritted teeth with an edge to his voice. "Weapons."

"Whatever the hell you want," Jinny sneered.

"Ow!"

They turned in sync when they heard Octavia's cry of pain. Whatever animosity that lied between them dissipated instantly underneath their shared protective instinct as they started worriedly towards the girl at the same time. Bellamy crouched down in front of Octavia as she rolled her right pants leg up to reveal the wounds on her thigh; they looked like jagged bite marks.

"You!" Jinny snapped her fingers at Atom. "Get me a clean cloth and some water. Now!"

The boy ran off to do as she ordered and she turned her attention back to Octavia. Bellamy was frowning as he examined the wound. It didn't seem deep and the marks had already scabbed over, but it was still causing Octavia some discomfort.

"What happened?" Bellamy asked.

"There was a lake and I jumped in," she replied simply. "Something grabbed me from under the water."

"That was reckless. I never should have let you go." He shook his head as if he was disappointed with himself.

"What—no!" Octavia protested. "Anything could have happened!"

Atom came back with a piece of cloth and tin of water, passing them over to Jinny. She crouched down next to Bellamy and started to clean the wound. He stopped her, taking the cloth from her hand instead, and she watched as he tended to his sister with gentle care.

"It was dangerous," Jinny said, turning her eyes back to Octavia. "Look at this, it could have bitten your entire leg off."

"Ugh!" The girl flinched at the mental image.

"What the hell was it anyway?" Bellamy asked as he started to tie the cloth around her thigh.

She shrugged. "I don't know. The others said it looked like a giant snake."

"You could have been killed," he told her.

"She would have been if Jasper hadn't jumped in to save her." They directed their gazes to Clarke as she returned with a bag of supplies. The blonde looked like she was ready to venture into the wilds again with Wells and Finn right behind her.

"Are you guys going after Jasper?" Octavia asked, tightening the makeshift bandage. "I'm coming too."

"No." Bellamy held her down while pushing himself to stand. "No way. Not again."

"He's right," Clarke agreed. "Your leg's just gonna slow us down. I'm here for _you_."

She turned her gaze to Bellamy and Wells frowned. "Clarke, are you okay?" he asked uncertainly.

"I heard you have a gun," she stated.

Bellamy lifted the hem of his shirt to expose the butt of the firearm tucked in his pants. Everyone glanced at it and Jinny frowned. Only the Commander and Major were given guns on the Ark. The law explicitly forbade unnecessary force and they used shock batons instead to keep people down. Unless there was a crisis, Guards didn't use guns. Where had Bellamy managed to get his hands on one?

"Good." Clarke nodded, then started down the path. "Follow me."

"Why would I do that?" Bellamy asked tauntingly and the girl turned around.

"Because you want them to follow you." She raised an eyebrow with a tilt of her head at the other boys standing nearby. "And right now, they're thinking only one of us is scared."

Bellamy inhaled deeply in consideration before slipping a jacket on. "Murphy, you're coming with me."

"Hey, I'll go too." Jinny stood up.

"No, I need you to stay here," Clarke said, taking a step forwards to touch her arm. "You're important too. I need you to help Monty, he's in the dropship. Talk to him."

She blinked at the girl, glancing at Wells then to Bellamy before speaking slowly. "Clarke, are you sure?"

"Positive," she replied with a nod and managed a small smile. "We'll be fine."

"Atom," Bellamy called. "My sister doesn't leave this camp. Is that clear?"

"I don't need a babysitter when I have Jin," Octavia responded coolly.

"Jin has other things to do." He gave the woman in question a significant look.

"Have fun, I hope you get eaten by the Grounders," Jinny smiled scornfully.

He ignored her and turned to Atom. "Anybody touches my sister answer to me, got it?" Turning around, he motioned to the rest. "Let's go."

Octavia made to follow after him but Atom pulled her back none too gently. She shrugged his hands off angrily. "I'm gonna make your life a living hell," she told him before stalking off.

Jinny sighed as she watched the group leave before making her way towards the dropship to find Monty. Whoever he was. She realised she had no idea who Clarke was referring to and scratched the back of her head in exasperation. The woman stomped up the ramp, pushing the parachute out of her way and bumped into someone standing by the entrance. Miller started and looked at her. "Oh, hey, Jinny," he greeted.

"Who the hell is Monty?" she demanded.

"I'm Monty!" The Asian boy on the other side of the ship waved. She recognised his face as the kid with Goggles that Finn had dragged along to Mount Weather.

"Oh," she intoned. "So... what did Clarke ask you to do?"

"She said food and communications." He gave a small shrug. "I was telling Miller that there was a blueberry patch nearby to scavenge but I'm still not sure on comms."

Jinny's lips curved into a beam. "I might have a solution."

"What's that?" The boy went over to her eagerly. "Did you manage to salvage something?"

"Yeah," she replied with a nod. "C'mon, I'll show ya!"

They left Miller and climbed up to the top level where she left her bag of miscellaneous components. Monty brought along a lamp and they sat underneath the window as Jinny upended her bag onto the floor. Metal bits and bobs fell out, along with the motherboard that she had been rebuilding, and a few wristbands that seemed intact but were still dead.

"So I've been thinking of making a telegraph, yeah?" She glanced at him, moving parts around to show him what she had collected. "I'm almost done with the circuit board, I just need to find a way to solder the microprocessor in. I got some stuff to make the switching device and there's some wires to connect 'em all but... the problem is that I can't get a working wristband to transmit back to the Ark."

She looked at him hopefully. "Think you could fix one maybe?"

Monty picked up a metal band and examined it closely. He hummed out loud in thought, checking the sensory needles before turning it around to look at the blank screen that housed the transmitter chip.

"I don't know..." he started slowly. "Looks like it activates when it comes in contact with electrons. Maybe the blood flow keeps it magnetised and working."

Jinny sighed and leaned back against the wall, throwing a piece of screw down to the floor with a small clatter. There was no way that they'd be able to get a functioning wristband to hook up to. She groaned in dismay, then started in surprise when someone climbed through the hatch. Octavia turned around just when there was a yelp from below and a heavy thud as someone fell down. Atom came through the opening, taking a seat on the ledge.

"Nobody's bitch, huh?" Octavia asked him. "Maybe one of these days you'll realise, you can't control me."

"You know that guy you were with..." He looked down briefly before turning his eyes back to her. "Did you know he was in for murder? Know something funny? I'm actually protecting him from you."

He paused before starting back down the ladder, grabbing the hatch and closing it after him. Octavia cried out and rushed forwards, slamming her hands against the seal. There was an audible click as the exterior lock engaged.

"What are you doing?!" she yelled.

"Consider yourself controlled!" Atom's voice called back, slightly muffled through the metal.

"Is this all you got?!" She banged her fists against the hatch again. "They locked me under the floor for sixteen years just for being born! This is nothing!"

Monty cleared his throat loudly and Octavia turned sharply to look at them. The boy pointed at the wristband in his hand and Jinny grinned in amusement. "You wanna keep it down?" he asked. "We're trying to concentrate here."

Octavia sighed and trudged over to them. She took a seat on the floor next to Jinny and pulled her knees up to her chest. The older woman reached forwards and ruffled her hair affectionately as she pouted slightly. Jinny had always treated the girl like her own sister, and the attachment remained to that day.

"What are you guys doing?" Octavia asked, looking at the assortment of technical equipment littering the floor.

"Tryin' to reach the Ark with what we got." Jinny gestured. "And as you can see, what we got sucks."

The girl breathed out a small laugh before looking at her with curious eyes. Jinny leaned back against the wall, expecting the onslaught of questions that Octavia no doubt had. She'd been trying to avoid the conversation for as long as she could. Despite the fact that the girl was the closest person she currently had, the inevitable topic remained off limits.

"Do you hate Bell that much for getting you arrested?" she asked. "You guys were so close."

"I'm not mad at getting arrested," Jinny replied. "I probably had it coming anyway."

"Why didn't they float you?" Octavia continued to ask. "Why'd they send you to solitary instead?"

Monty blinked and narrowed his eyes at Jinny. "Wait, you're older than eighteen?"

"Hmm?" She averted her gaze to the ceiling.

"C'mon, how'd you get off the hook?" Octavia pushed her knee.

"Alright, alright!" Jinny sat up straight and sighed, considering them with a serious gaze. "Don't tell anyone else about this, okay?"

She waited for the teens to nod their heads and they leaned forwards to listen attentively. The woman paused for a moment as if she was internally debating with herself, brows pulled together in a display of deliberation. Her eyes flickered between the two of them as they waited with bated breath for what she had to say.

"I promised I'd teach the Chancellor how to brew his own moonshine."

"Jinny!" Octavia exclaimed in disbelief and Monty started laughing. "Stop joking around!"

"I make really good moonshine though!" she protested.

"Really? I can never get the alcohol content the right way I want," Monty started.

"Monty!" Octavia looked at him, scandalised. "Don't distract her, I'm trying to get her to spill!"

"It's all about the temperature, Monty boy," Jinny grinned and the girl beside her groaned in frustration. "Hey... temperature..."

"What?" Monty frowned at the reflective expression on her face.

"I've been ripping those bands off in front of a fire each time," she pointed. "Maybe the exposure to heat makes them malfunction."

"The needles are definitely temperature sensitive." He nodded thoughtfully. "That could be the case."

"I need to find myself a little lamb to—wait..." Jinny paused halfway from getting up and her lip twisted at the side. "Atom locked the hatch. I guess I have to go through the window."

"Wait, you can use mine!" Octavia said, raising her hand in the air.

They looked at her in surprise. "You sure?" Monty asked.

"Yeah, go ahead." She held her arm out towards him.

"You do it, Monty." Jinny waved and leaned back against the wall again. The boy took hold of Octavia's wrist and started to fiddle around with the device using a screwdriver. He was trying to find a way to get it off without severely damaging the sensitive transmitters.

"It must be hard for you to stay behind when Jasper's out there," Octavia suddenly said.

"He may not be my real brother," Monty told her. "But he's always been there. Every memory I have, there's Jasper." He paused in loosening the bolts on the band and looked at her. "I should be out there."

"You're not gonna cry, are you?" she asked with a teasing pout.

"Shut up," he told her with a small smile and Octavia giggled. "You really sure about this? Your brother won't approve of you helping us contact the Ark."

The girl sighed. "He's not my keeper. Let's just do this. Let's do it."

She nodded at him in confirmation and Monty dropped the screwdriver to pick up a flat piece of metal. He turned her hand around and fitted the bar between her wrist and the band. Octavia started crying out in pain, fist clenched tightly as Monty forced the device to snap open.

"Ow!" she yelled, cradling her forearm. "Son of a—"

"I'm sorry," Monty apologised before quickly picking up the wristband to examine it under the lamp light. Each of them leaned in to take a closer look as the sensory needles continued to emit a bright blue glow before fizzing out. They let out a collective sigh of disappointment.

"Dead," he muttered. "Damn it."

"This is ridiculous!" Jinny messed her dark hair up in frustration. "Who built these things anyway?! Ugh!"

"If you can't even take it off, how are you supposed to turn it into a radio?" Octavia asked.

Monty bit his lip then looked up at the sound of the hatch opening. Atom climbed up the ladder and looked at them before heading back down. Jinny jumped to her feet and stretched her arms high above her head while groaning loudly. She could never sit in one place for too long, it made her restless and want to do something highly unhealthy. Jinny contemplated on going for a walk through the woods to clear her mind, and hopefully come across something to stab her knife into.

"Finally. I'm gonna get some fresh air," she announced. "I'll see you guys later."

Octavia sprang up and caught the hem of her jacket in time as she walked past. "Jin, wait!" she called and the woman turned around inquisitively. Octavia peered up at her in earnest, eyes wide and probing. "Tell me why you hate my brother so much."

Jinny exhaled softly and dropped her gaze to the floor. Octavia waited impatiently as she debated with herself with an unreadable guise, before finally returning her attention back to her. There was something resembling regret in Jinny's eyes as she spoke.

"He broke my heart."

Octavia's fingers slipped from her jacket and Jinny made her way to the hatch, leaving both teenagers staring after her with their lips parted in shock.


	8. lost territory

**CHAPTER 06**

* * *

THE STARS SHONE LUMINOUSLY above her as she made her way back to camp. Jinny thought a walk would be cathartic, but she was wrong. It made her wistful and she didn't like that, she didn't want to feel anything resembling melancholia. But the dirt, the humidity, the darkness and the silence seemed to close in on her with every breath she took and she found herself resenting it all. She blamed the Chancellor, her father, everyone on the Ark who was privy to the knowledge that life support was failing.

Most of all, she blamed herself.

The Ark had been where she grew up, it was her home and she still thought of it that way. She missed being amongst the stars that twinkled dimly in the night sky. Up there, she could see all their brilliance as they floated in the eternal mystery of never ending space. Sometimes she imagined what it would be like to explore that boundless territory, seeking for new life and worlds beyond their wildest imaginations.

Instead, they returned to Earth—a planet they had almost destroyed and refused to give up on.

Jinny's thoughts wandered back in time, to another age when things were less convoluted and fragile. The memories felt like brittle bone that would crumble to dust at any second.

 _It was night, or their concept of night, when the temperature seemed to lower and calls for curfew ran throughout the ship. Some, like her, never obeyed those calls and she snuck out of the room she shared with her father to walk the empty corridors like a wandering ghost. The thin soles of her canvas shoes made no sound as her light footsteps crossed the metal floor. She rounded the corner and walked towards the observation window, leaning against the railing in front of it._

 _The steady hum of machinery surrounding her was calming, like how story books described the crash of ocean waves. She hugged herself, rubbing her arms through the thin fabric of her black turtle neck. Then there was a flicker in the faint reflection from the glass and she smiled when she felt his familiar presence standing behind her._

 _"I can smell you from a mile away," she told him._

 _"I had a shower before coming here, okay," he told her and she chuckled._

 _"Sure, and I_ — _" Jinny let out a strangled cry as the older boy grabbed her arm into a lock and his elbow hooked around her neck. He knocked the back of her knee and she felt her leg give in as she dangled on to his choke hold with clawed hands. She heard his deep throaty laugh rumble next to her ear, sending her hairs bristling._

 _"Bellamy, I am going to murder you in your sleep!" she exclaimed._

 _"Rule Two." He smirked. "Never let your guard down."_

 _He released his hold on her and she regained her balance to spin around, smacking him on the arm. His eyes were filled with mischief as he continued to laugh at her expense. After a moment, she couldn't resist the infectious mirth that escaped her own lips. Bellamy leaned his back against the railing next to her, hands deep in the pockets of his jacket._

 _"I figured out the code you gave me," he said proudly._

 _"Yeah, you want a prize for that?" she smirked widely at him._

 _"I could do with some new shoes." He grinned and she rolled her eyes in good humour._

 _"How's O?" she asked._

 _"You know how she is," he sighed. "Miserable. Restless. Wishing she was never born to begin with. I wish I could do something more for her."_

 _"We could sneak her out at night," she told him. "We could bring her here."_

 _"I think she'd like that."_

* * *

Jinny stopped, feet crunching against the detritus that lined the forest floor. She blinked and looked around at the sound of frantic yelling, starting towards the direction with her blade drawn. The rabbit she had hunted earlier rested on her shoulder as she crept forwards through the dense foliage. The girl sighed in exasperation and sheathed her knife when she saw that it was just Atom—hanging from a tree.

They stared at each other for a couple of awkward seconds before speaking at the same time.

"Please help me."

"What are you doing?"

Jinny crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. At least she knew he didn't put himself there on purpose. Atom wriggled his body, trying to communicate his plea to her with his eyes alone, and she had to laugh in amusement. Whoever put him there had tied him up by the hands and the only thing he could do was to kick his feet about in the air.

"Tell me how you got up there in the first place and I'll help you down," she said.

He looked at her with despondence as she waited expectantly. After almost a minute of silence, she shrugged and started to walk back to camp. "Okay, then."

"No, no, no, wait!" he called anxiously. "I—uh... got in trouble with Bellamy."

"Oh," she intoned, then went back to him. "Well, that's reason enough for me."

"You don't want to hear the rest?" he asked as she set her rabbit on the ground and started to climb the trunk of the tree.

"You gonna tell me anyway?" she retorted, grabbing hold of a branch above her head.

"He's really protective of his sister," he merely said.

Jinny snorted. "No kidding."

She reached a branch that was level to him and pulled out her knife to cut the rope loose. Atom fell to the ground and let out a pained groan as he crumpled into the dirt. "Oops... sorry!" She peered down at him as he started to pick himself up. Jinny was just about to climb down when her periphery vision caught movement in the canopy opposite her. She paused and stared at the spot, straining her eyes against the sea of darkness that enveloped them like a fog.

"Hey, are you okay?" Atom asked cautiously from below.

She continued to train her gaze on the tree top for three long seconds before looking back down at him. Atom was frowning at her peculiar behaviour and she quickly made her way back down to level ground. Jinny picked up her rabbit and with one final look at the leaves, she pushed Atom along in a hurry.

They could see the flickers of torches darting around the perimeter of the camp and everyone was sitting around the firepit in the middle. She sniffed, smelling the aroma of cooked meat wafting through the air and Atom looked around hungrily for its source. Eventually, they found it—actual food waiting for them. Jinny went up and gingerly picked up a skewer with a chunk of meat resting on it. She eyed it dubiously and looked around, noticing the pile of wristbands that littered the base of the crackling flames.

"What is it?" she wondered out loud.

"Some kind of panther," John told her, sitting with his gang on the ground to her left. "Bellamy and the others brought it back. It was huge."

Speaking of the man himself, she saw him tear through the undergrowth and stomp in her direction. Without even a word or warning, he grabbed her wrist roughly and started to pull her away from the others. Jinny felt her heart jump up to her throat at the sudden aggressive treatment and his touch on her skin was intrusive. She struggled against his tight grip until he finally let go of her when they were a good distance away from camp.

"What the hell was that about?!" she asked furiously, having half a mind of stabbing him with her skewer.

"Where the hell have you been?" he demanded in an equally fiery tone. "Never mind that you cut Atom down to undermine me."

"Wow, get your head out of your ass, Bellamy," she scowled. "The damn universe doesn't revolve around you."

"Where did you go?" he questioned forcefully.

"I went for a walk, okay?" she nearly shouted. "You're not my father to be keeping tabs on me anyway!"

He lunged forwards and grabbed her wrist again, leaning in close to her face. She could see the anger roiling in his eyes from the faint light of the moon, whilst the rest of his face was thrown into shadow. His hair had grown unkempt and wild, making him look like a lunatic that just escaped from lockup.

"Will you stop manhandling me?!" she snapped, face contorting into a mask of rage.

"It's dangerous out there," he hissed. "You could have gotten yourself killed."

"I can take care of myself," she replied icily.

"We found the boy that was taken," he told her. "The Grounders patched him up and strung him to a tree as bait for us."

She felt her blood run cold at what he was telling her. Paranoia started to seep into her veins along with the dread and her body felt hypersensitive to her surroundings. Bellamy leaned in closer and she could feel his warm breath fan across her face. His hold on her arm turned to an uneasy comfort as her mind wandered back to the movement she thought she saw in the trees earlier.

"They're hunting us, Jin."


	9. vacant faith

**CHAPTER 07**

* * *

 **SCREAMS FILLED THE NIGHT** seemingly from all fronts as Jinny huddled under a tree near the campfire. The flames danced with wanton abandon, oblivious to the high tensions that were currently electrifying the camp. Goggles kid moaned in pain from the dropship and a little girl screamed from night terrors. Jinny watched as Clarke exited the ship and turned sharply to identify the source of the shrill cries, making her way to the opposite side of the camp.

Jinny closed her eyes but sleep ultimately eluded her. Sighing heavily, she stood up and made her way towards the dropship. It was like there was an infectious disease running rampant inside it, making people stay far away. Those who were bunking on the lower level kept shooting agitated glances at the ceiling. She climbed up the ladder, listening to the agonising groans from the boy grow louder. Jinny tried to recall his name—something like James? Jesse? Jason?

Her head popped out of the opening of the hatch and she looked around, finding only Monty sitting in a corner and watching his friend squirm deliriously. The boy's lips were white, face ashen and clammy skin dripping with sweat. He must be feverish and she was afraid an infection might be consuming him. Jinny pulled herself over the edge and crouched down next to Monty.

"How is he?" she asked quietly.

The boy merely shook his head, sadness washing his features down into a frown. She dropped herself to the floor and sat cross-legged as she examined the suffering boy, covered with jackets and quilted insulation fabric.

"What about _you_?" Jinny looked to Monty. "Have you even eaten?"

"Yeah, a little," he replied, shifting uneasily. "But I don't wanna leave him."

"I understand." She turned back to the moaning boy again. "If I was in your position, I wouldn't either."

"Seems that all I can do is to watch him suffer." Monty sighed forlornly. She stared at him from the corners of her eyes, finding something spark inside her. It was a familiar sensation that she had only ever felt once before—when she first met Octavia.

"You said you were raised on Farm Station?" Jinny started, an idea forming in her head. "What kind of herbs could ease pain?"

"Um..." Monty looked at her uncertainly. "I'm not sure if you'll find any around here. Besides, it's dark..."

"Let me help you help him." She tried to smile encouragingly. "Tell me what you know."

"There's uh... poppy. They're small yellow flowers, they're kind of round. The roots and stems can be stewed. Wild Quinine helps with infections. They're small white flowers that grow in a bunch, the leaves are oval and edgy."

He told her more on how to identify the various herbs and she nodded, patting him on the shoulder before heading back down the ladder. Jinny took a flashlight and started towards the forest to look for anything resembling the plants that Monty had described to her. But like sleep, she turned out empty handed as well. She could only hope tomorrow would be a better day.

* * *

Three days. That was how long she hadn't been able to sleep properly. Each time her eyes drooped closed, she would be jerked awake by another scream or someone yelling close by. She found that moving her sleeping location outside of the camp and away from other people alleviated most of her insomnia. Unfortunately, she didn't remove herself far enough.

Jinny blinked her eyes open when she heard the soft rustle of footsteps drawing nearer. The last person she wanted to see on earth hovered over her, fingering the metal emergency axe from the dropship. So that was where it went to. Bellamy looked down at her with a frown but she ignored him, keeping her gaze focused on the lazy trail of clouds drifting by in the azure sky.

"Have you been lying here the entire night?" he asked with a hint of incredulity.

"Maybe. Maybe I was sleepwalking. Maybe someone dragged me out here."

His face was devoid of emotion, as if he had been expecting her to say something along those lines. He probably did. Bellamy inhaled an intrepid breath through his nose, looking up with creased brows before turning his brown eyes back on her.

"Come on, Commander," he said. "There are cadets waiting to be tortured. I know you're in to that sort of thing."

Jinny slowly pushed herself up into a sitting position, rubbing her nose and sniffing delicately as she spared him a glance. She hated how he knew so much about her. Ignoring his outstretched hand, she got up onto her feet and tried to pat the smeared dirt off her maroon pants. He led her towards a small clearing where a group of boys milled about with various crude weaponry. The only thing Jinny needed was a knife, though she would have preferred having two.

Their first order of business was to practice their throwing in anticipation of a hunt later in the afternoon. Jinny attached a rope to hers so she didn't have to move from her spot each time. She'd been hearing the bouncing of blades for a while now and sighed with exaggerated grace as she pulled her knife across the ground back towards her.

"You're doing it wrong," she said in exasperation, eyes still trained on her target. "Keep your throwing line vertical and throw it with force. Like you mean it." She turned to look at Murphy. "Throw it so hard that when the knife sticks, the tree's ancestors feel it."

The boy looked at her with his eyes narrowed indignantly as she took a step and sent her knife soaring through the air into the deep dent she had already made through the bark. Murphy scowled unhappily before holding his knife up in the air to mimic her stance, then threw it in front of him. The piece of metal bounced off the thick trunk with a pitiful sound and dropped to the ground harmlessly. He growled loudly in frustration and looked back at the dropship.

"It's that damn kid, alright, messing with my head!" He gestured at all the moaning.

"He's not gonna last much longer," Bellamy said beside him while taking aim. "Better think of a new excuse."

With deliberate precision, he flung his axe at the tree where it embedded deeply into the wood with a hollow ring. He turned to Jinny with an arrogant smirk. "I think its progeny felt that too."

"Do you want a prize?" she asked with an arched eyebrow.

"I've been looking for some new boots," he shrugged.

Atom walked into view just then from around the foliage with Jones right behind him. Jinny thought she was getting better at remembering people's names now. "We searched a half mile in all directions," he reported. "No sign of Trina or Pascal."

"Visit your special tree when you were out there?" Murphy asked mockingly as he walked past to retrieve his knife.

"Atom took his punishment. Let it go," Bellamy said authoritatively.

"Could be Grounders," Atom suggested.

"Yeah, or they could be in pound town. Lot of that going around recently," Murphy retorted with a smirk.

Jinny sent her knife soaring through the air in his direction, almost impaling his cheek by mere inches, but the rope attached to it whipped him in the eye. Murphy cursed out loud, doubling over as he clasped a hand over his injury. He straightened up and turned to glare at her. "You better watch it!" he shouted angrily.

The woman shrugged as she muttered tonelessly, "My hand slipped."

Bellamy sighed as he looked between the both of them, choosing to remain quiet as he stomped over to pluck his axe out of the tree. Octavia splashed water into the thick ferns opposite them, sending them a wide smile as her eyes met with Atom's briefly.

"Look, Bellamy." The boy turned away from her. "People are scared and that dying kid, he's not helping the morale around here."

"Morale will go up when I find them more food," he responded without hesitation.

"Captain Ahab to the rescue," Jinny commented snidely. They ignored her.

"And what do we say when they ask about Trina and Pascal?" Jones asked.

"Now? Nothing," Bellamy answered. "It's possible they're just lost. We'll keep an eye out for them when we go hunting later."

Everyone nodded and started to pack their stuff up.

"Let's go kill something," Murphy said enthusiastically, glancing at the dropship again before turning around to meet Bellamy's palm on his chest.

"You're not going," the older man said. "I need you to stay here. If the Grounders are circling, we can't leave this place unprotected."

"Fine," Murphy acquiesced with a nod. Jinny glanced at him as she walked past, the angry red bruises decorating his face standing out starkly under the bright sunlight. She bent down to pick up her knife and continued walking. "Somebody better tell goggle boy to keep it shut."

"His name is Jasper!" she yelled from the distance.

She trudged back into camp and looked around scrutinisingly. In the past few days, everyone had been busy trying to build themselves shelters and a few tents dotted the grounds. Some had started to pick up on the idea of gathering nuts and berries around the campsite while jobs were slowly being allocated. It seemed like things were looking up for them.

If only they could have running water and electricity, that would be perfect.

His familiar presence stopped next to her and she groused at herself for being able to tell him apart from everyone else just by his _existence_ alone. It didn't even have to do with anything like his scent or the sound of his footsteps, she just knew it was him. Jinny blew out an aggravated breath and crossed her arms, not bothering to acknowledge him.

"You're coming, right?" Bellamy asked. "Hunting."

"If you say so," she responded indifferently.

"We need to discuss defences," he told her before calling loudly, "Murphy! Come here!"

Jinny sighed in resignation and followed the tall man into his tent along with Murphy right behind her. They settled in crouches as Bellamy started going off on having a wall built, getting weapons and patrol shifts as he drew a rough sketch of the camp with his knife in the ground. She had to stifle a yawn of boredom as she sat there staring at the faded and stained canvas fabric, making little comments every now and then to look like she was participating. Suddenly, Octavia barged into the tent, her intent gaze focused on her brother as she stood over him.

"What did you do with Atom?" she demanded.

Bellamy gave a tired sigh before cocking his head to Murphy. The boy took that as his cue to leave the tent while Bellamy cleared his throat and stood up with his arms crossed. Octavia stared daggers up at him, clearly not intimidated by his larger stature that easily dwarfed hers.

"Atom's fine." He shrugged nonchalantly.

"Then why did he blow me off?" she asked pointedly.

"Maybe he's just not interested."

"He'd be mad to resist that." Jinny waved towards Octavia who managed a small smile before remembering she was supposed to be stern. Bellamy sent the woman a glare.

"You can't just isolate me from people, okay?" Octavia told him.

"Atom had to learn," he started. "Disobey me, you pay the price. He paid the price. Now we're good."

"Now I'm paying the price," she retorted. "So next time you decide to go on a power trip, leave me out of it."

"She's right," Jinny added unhelpfully. She opened her mouth to continue but was interrupted by an agonisingly loud scream from the dropship. Octavia started in surprise and darted out of the tent in a hurry. Bellamy looked down at Jinny with furrowed brows as she scrambled to a stand. Without so much as a glance back at him, she ran out after Octavia. They climbed the ladder to the upper level quickly, the tortuous cries from Jasper reverberating all around them as if the metal had started to convulse.

"Stop it! You're killing him!" Octavia cried when she made it to the top, rushing forwards and dropping on the floor next to Clarke.

"What are you doing?" Jinny asked as she scanned the room, the smell of septicity stinging her olfactory receptors. The blonde girl was holding a knife in her hand as Wells and Finn held her patient down. Tears were leaking out from the poor boy's eyes, staining his face in deep trails along the scratches across his cheeks. He looked worse than she remembered, and a deep frown etched her face instantly.

"She's trying to save his life," Finn answered.

"She can't," Bellamy said as he came up to join them.

Wells stood up with a heavy sigh. "We're not in the mood for your crap right now, Bellamy," he said, eliciting a humorous scoff from the man.

"We didn't drag him through miles of woods just to let him die," Clarke said.

"Kid's a goner," he told them. "If you can't see that, you're deluded. He's making people go crazy."

"This isn't the Ark anymore and I don't care what you think," she raised her voice angrily. "Down here, every life matters."

"Take a good look at him." Bellamy lowered his voice instead while gesturing with a hand. "If you hadn't noticed yet, he's a lost cause."

"Octavia," she spoke to the other girl softly, seemingly ignoring him. "I've spent my whole life watching my mother heal people. If I say there's hope, then there's hope."

"This isn't about hope, it's about guts," the man said, mildly exasperated by their stubbornness. "You don't have the guts to make the hard choices, I do. He's been like this for three days even with all the herbs Jinny's been bringing him. If he's not better by tomorrow, I'll put him out of his misery myself." He turned and stepped towards the ladder, grabbing hold of the first rung. "Jin, let's go."

She turned to look back at him and for once, she listened.

Because she thought he was right.


	10. hands tainted

**CHAPTER 08**

* * *

 **ANYTHING COULD HAPPEN** at a moment's notice without so much as a warning or an ounce of hesitation. Bellamy had gathered their hunting party and they came across a wild boar deep in the verdant woods. The man had then almost impaled a little girl with his axe throwing skills and Screamer—also known as Charlotte—was now tagging along with them, tiny knife in hand.

"So Jinny," Atom started as he walked alongside her. She pushed an overhanging branch out of her way, not bothering to reply. "What did the Commander's daughter get arrested for? Everyone's dying to know."

Bellamy glanced back at them from the front, Charlotte was casually skipping two steps behind him. Jinny continued walking, not giving the slightest hint as to whether she had heard the boy or not. Atom was starting to doubt that she had when her low voice sounded in the crisp air.

"I tore a man's throat out," she turned to look at him, grinning slightly. "With my teeth."

There was a loud snort that apparently came from Bellamy and he had a hand pressed against his mouth. Atom stared at her, once again considering the possibility of her statement. She suppressed her own laugh and turned back to the front so he wouldn't see her lips twitch. The boy was the kind of sensitive soul that actually bothered to make human connections with other people. She found it kind of endearing.

"Atom," Bellamy said, his deep voice booming in the woodland hush that surrounded them. "You should know that Jin's a pathological liar."

"Very funny," Atom finally said, rolling his eyes.

A wide humorous smile broke out across Jinny's face as she looked back at him. It fell instantly and a look of horror took place, rooting itself deep in her eyes. Atom frowned and turned around to find tendrils of yellow mist snaking towards them at a rapid pace. Jinny cried out in alarm with a few obscenities falling from her lips. It managed to gain Bellamy's attention and he was then yelling for everyone to hide.

"Jinny, run!" he shouted imperatively.

She stumbled with panic, her brain not fully comprehending the sudden appearance of the thick mustard fog. Her nose caught a whiff of sulphur and chlorine, the resultant combination resembling the scent of garlic or horseradish. The acrid stench almost made her want to gag as she forced herself into a dash. Her heart pumped quickly, expelling more oxygen throughout her entire system as she tore through the undergrowth after Bellamy. Cold sweat trickled down her back as a thousand different scenarios of what that gas could do to them fought for dominance in her mind.

Atom let out a pained cry behind her as he tripped and fell to the ground, the fog consuming him not more than two seconds later. "Jinny!" he called loudly while choking on the impure air. She stopped and whirled around to get him, allowing the dense yellow smoke to catch up with her immediately. Her eyes watered from the irritant particles that engulfed her body and her skin tingled on contact. Jinny quickly stumbled backwards in terror, stepping out through the edge of the brume. She coughed when fumes entered her lungs and she waved her hand in a feeble attempt to beat the mist away. It started to burn from the continued exposure as if she had soaked it in a chemical bath saturated with corrosive elements.

"Jinny! Bellamy!"

A foghorn sounded off in the distance, reverberating through the stone and branches. She felt a hand reach out to grab her from the side and Bellamy was pulling her urgently. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders, bringing her through a hollow that led into a cave. Charlotte was already inside and she took Bellamy's hand as he walked by, urging them further down the passageway.

Their footsteps echoed with every painful beat of her heart until they reached the end and Charlotte dropped onto the floor tiredly. Jinny leaned against the wall, feeling like she was ready to expel her entire stomach onto the ground as it churned uncomfortably. Bellamy took her hand, the one that had been dipped in fog, and held on tightly in an effort to stop the tremors. It hurt at even the slightest touch but pain was the farthest thing from her mind right then.

"W-we left Atom," she whispered, her voice hoarse. "We left him out there... in... in that thing."

"There wasn't anything that we could do," he told her quietly.

She pulled her hand away, wincing as she did so, and examined it with consternation. Her palm was red with tiny darker dots to embellish it. The back of her hand tingled with a burning sensation and she felt like she had lost motor control over it. Bellamy looked at her worriedly before pulling out a piece of cloth from his pocket to wrap around her hand.

"What the hell was that anyway?" he asked.

"N-nerve damage," she stuttered before taking a shuddering breath. "That fog... it's lethal. Like some kind of chemical warfare bullshit."

Jinny slid down the wall and planted herself on the ground with a weary sigh. Bellamy sat down beside her with a perplexed frown, glancing at Charlotte who seemed to have passed out from exhaustion. He turned back to her, their eyes meeting with matched anxiety, and he leaned in to stroke her hair soothingly.

"Hey, it's gonna be okay," he told her.

Jinny nodded and let herself lean against his shoulder, finding security in their close proximity. He pulled her closer as if it were the most natural thing in the world. In that moment of vulnerability, it was and they both revelled in it.

"As if mutant animals and psychopathic Grounders aren't enough," he muttered.

She scoffed lightly. "Next thing you know, we'll be plunged into an ice age."

"Except there won't be any dinosaurs to eat," he said and she let out a genuine chuckle. "It'll be winter soon though."

Jinny shook her head as she softly sighed. "I can't think past this moment."

Bellamy shifted beside her and she felt him lean his head against hers. His husky voice felt like a gentle caress when he said, "Me neither."

She closed her eyes as they lapsed into a comfortable silence, despite the yearning ache in their hearts. There was the sound of dripping water from somewhere deep within the cavern that reminded her of a ticking clock. Hours probably passed, she couldn't really tell, but the pain in her hand subsided as time went on. Charlotte remained in blissful slumber and by the steady rhythm of Bellamy's chest, she guessed that he had taken respite as well. Jinny was on the verge of joining them, her consciousness melting into the dark realms of oblivion.

Then a piercing scream echoed around the cave and it was like breaking through ice to get to the surface. Her eyes snapped open and she started violently from the shock, sucking in a deep breath of air that made her choke as she did so. Bellamy shot up and scanned the cave through the dark, finding Charlotte thrashing violently in her sleep.

"Hey. Hey!" He reached an arm out to her. "Charlotte, wake up!"

The little girl opened her eyes almost immediately and looked around to regain her bearings. She turned to Bellamy, her voice small and sad. "I'm sorry."

"Does it happen often?" he asked and she averted her gaze, sighing ruefully. "What are you scared of?" She continued to look down with abject sorrow, unwilling to speak aloud of the things that haunted her. "You know what? It doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is what you do about it."

"But... I'm asleep," she responded with confusion.

Jinny looked up curiously at them, recovering herself from the sudden scare. She could guess what Bellamy was about to tell her word for word, because she had heard it before.

"Fears are fears," he started. "Slay your demons when you're awake, they won't be there to get you in your sleep."

She shook her head. "Yeah, but... how?"

"You can't afford to be weak. Down here, weakness is death, fear is death." Charlotte listened to him with rapt attention and he paused to hold out his hand. "Let me see that knife I gave you."

She reached into her pocket and brought out the small handmade blade to give it back to him. Bellamy took it and grasped the hilt firmly in his hand. "Now, when you feel afraid," he said. "You hold tight to that knife, and you say, 'Screw you. I'm not afraid.'"

Jinny smiled at the familiar phrase as Bellamy passed the knife back to Charlotte. She held it with both hands as if it were a totem and looked down at it.

"Screw you. I'm not afraid." Her eyes flicked up to his and he cocked his head slightly to show that he wasn't convinced. She looked back down and took a small breath, filling her voice with more confidence. " _Screw you. I'm not afraid._ "

Bellamy patted her on the leg, drawing away to lean against the wall again. "Slay your demons, kid. Then you'll be able to sleep."

"But it's easy for you to say," she contested, her thin voice wavering slightly. "You're a lot braver than I am."

"Hey," Jinny called softly. She gestured for the girl to come over and Charlotte slowly crawled towards her. The older woman wrapped an arm around her shoulders and smiled. "Bravery isn't the lack of fear. It's being able to move forward _despite_ having fear. It's being the only one who knows that you're afraid."

"Were you afraid when we were running just now?" Charlotte asked.

"Yeah, my heart was about ready to explode," she said. "But I didn't let that stop me. I wanted to live so I ran."

"How do you tell yourself to do it?"

Jinny stroked her hair and looked up, something wistful taking hold in her eyes. "There's power in words. Whenever you think that you can't do something, just tell yourself this one thing." She turned her gaze back to the little girl. "We are infinite."

* * *

"It's all clear," Bellamy announced as he stepped out from the mouth of the cave the next morning. He looked around carefully before signalling for the both of them to join him. Charlotte was holding on to Jinny's hand but she let go when they were out in the open air again.

"Anybody out there?" He raised his voice to call. "Jones?!"

"We're here!" a reply came from their right.

They quickly made their way towards the direction of the boy's voice and met up with the rest of their group. Jinny looked around quickly as Jones told Bellamy that they managed to get to a cave further down. She finally locked her gaze on the three kids in front of her.

"Did you see Atom?" she asked.

Jones shook his head and she inhaled sharply. Bellamy touched her arm, brows pulled together with concern. "Let's find him. Come on."

They spread out across the woods with Bellamy pointing in the direction that they'd been running in the day before. Jinny jogged quickly, desperate to find the boy and praying against all hope that he was okay—or at least the closest version to okay. Her hand was still shaking and every so often, a sharp pain would shoot through the middle of her palm and radiate out to the whole extremity. Her breathing was ragged as she paused to look around, cradling her injured hand to her chest. She could feel Bellamy close behind, probably keeping an eye on her.

A scream erupted further ahead and Jinny tore through the foliage in its direction. She jumped over a rock, skid past a fallen log, and found Charlotte. The older woman grabbed her around the shoulders to calm her down. "Screamer, hey, it's oka—"

Her blood ran cold when her eyes finally landed on the sight before them; the reason why Charlotte had screamed. Fear and dread filled her, pushing out all other senses to replace them with a sick feeling in the pit of her gut. Bellamy caught up to them and walked towards the quivering body that was lying on the ground. They followed after him slowly, their eyes taking in every single detail of Atom's deformation with each step they took.

Jinny let go of Charlotte and fell to her knees beside him. "No, no, no..." she started. "Shit. No! Atom!"

His skin was covered with large blisters filled with yellow abscess, dried blood covering the chemical burns that lacerated his skin and splitting them open in cracks. Atom's eyes which used to be the colour of burnt umber were now coated in white spots from corneal ulceration, his lungs filled with liquid as he struggled to breathe. He spoke only two words, his voice barely a whisper. It froze her veins and her entire body tensed like a tightly wound coil.

"Kill... me..."

Bellamy stood up from his crouch just as Charlotte approached them. The boy lying at their feet continued to choke and struggle for air, face crumpled in agony, unable to even shed a tear. Jinny felt something small and cool slip into her hand and she looked down to see Charlotte placing the knife in her palm.

"Don't be afraid," her childish voice said as Jinny curled her trembling fingers around the hilt.

"Go back to camp," Bellamy told the others. "Charlotte... you too."

Jinny heard their retreating footsteps rustle through the underbrush away from them and Bellamy crouched back down beside her. He placed a hand on her arm but she couldn't tear her eyes away from Atom. Would she had been able to save him if she had just gone back?

She inhaled sharply and felt tears well up in her eyes. Jinny swallowed thickly to banish them, exchanging the knife to her good hand and gripping it tightly. Suddenly, she felt someone pass by and she looked up to find Clarke bending down opposite her. The blonde placed a hand on Atom's chest, eyes quickly surveying the damage before looking up at the both of them.

"I heard screams," she stated.

"Charlotte found him," Bellamy replied. "I sent her back to camp."

"Kill me... J... Jin... ny... Bella... my... ple... ease..."

Atom's chest heaved as he continued to beg for them to take his life. Clarke inspected the boy again, racking her brain for any information she had that could possibly save him. In the end, she shook her head sadly.

Bellamy covered Jinny's hand with his own and gave her a significant look, trying to communicate what he wanted to say with his eyes alone. She inhaled deeply and clenched her jaw, looking up at the both of them with a steely gaze. Bellamy shuffled to the side as she gently pushed him away and took position next to Atom. The dying boy turned his head in her direction, as if he knew what was coming. She reached out to touch his hair and he closed his unseeing eyes.

"Thank you..." he rasped.

With her heart falling into a black abyss, she pierced his neck.


	11. 09 start anew

**CHAPTER 09**

* * *

 **SHE NEVER CRIED** since she was fourteen and she promised her father that she would never do it again. He told her that crying could never undo the past and never will—it was just something people did to comfort themselves in moments of insecurity. Jinny was raised to be a machine, because it was the only way she could survive in their world. She was the prodigal child; perfect and untouchable.

"Hey." A hand popped out from under the flap of her tent to lift it open and Bellamy's face peeked through the gap. She was sitting cross legged on the opposite side, looking like she had been meditating. Jinny opened her eyes to stare at him unhappily for intruding on her personal space. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay." He invited himself inside.

"Why wouldn't I be okay?" She arched an eyebrow.

He glanced at her before taking a seat on the ground amongst the insulation fabric that she had hijacked from the dropship. Bellamy regarded her with a piercing gaze that tried to penetrate the multitude of barriers she held. He never really got very far.

"A lot happened," he replied quietly.

"Rule Three, Bellamy," she said impassively. "Emotion is weakness."

"You cannot seriously still be upholding that?" His voice was laced with disbelief.

"Aren't you?" she looked at him pointedly.

Bellamy averted his gaze with a shrug and Jinny tilted her head slightly to the side. There was something not quite right with his demeanour, like he was hiding something from her. A nervous tension vibrated off of him and she started to frown suspiciously. He noticed and sighed, reaching into his pocket hesitantly before pausing.

"What are you doing?" she asked snappily.

"A peace offering," he said, then pulled his hand out.

What she saw clutched between his fingers made her eyes widen with a multitude of different emotions that she would never be able to decipher. Her heart almost flew out of her chest as her throat sucked in a sharp breath of air. She shot forwards, tearing the black leather strap from his grip.

Disbelief escaped her lips as she examined the bracelet with its rectangular golden metal stud stretching over almost half of its length. The piece of jewellery looked exactly the same as she had remembered it, maybe even better. He'd been taking care of it and making sure it didn't rust or get worn out. Her brown eyes, made almost translucent by the filtering sunlight, looked into his.

"You've had this the entire time?!" she raised her voice, face twisting with anger.

"Whoa, hey," he started, raising his hands in the air. "I've been waiting for the right time to give it back. Like when you didn't look like you were about to stab me in the gut and slit my throat. Then hang me up in the trees."

She paused and stared at him, her face smoothing into its usual vacant expression. "Good call."

"Does... this mean I'm off the hook?" he asked uncertainly, brows furrowing in confusion.

"My urge to kill you has lessened," she responded.

"Well, if I had known getting you a shiny trinket would get you to forgive me..." his voice trailed off.

"It's not just a shiny trinket and you know it," she narrowed her eyes at him but her tone was still light. "This bracelet is my life."

"I know..." His gaze softened a fraction. "So we're good now, right?"

"There's still the part where you almost got me floated," she pointed. "If it wasn't for my quick thinking and extraordinary charm."

He rolled his eyes. "And I will make it up to you for a thousand years."

"Good," she smirked.

"Oh." He reached around his neck to pull out a necklace. "This is supposed to be yours too so—"

"No." She held a hand out to stop him. "I gave that to you. It's yours."

He looked at her and she could see the silent thanks in his eyes. The charm on his necklace had come from her bracelet but she felt it was right to have it separated. The only person she trusted more than herself at the time was Bellamy, and there was a small part of her that wished it would stay that way.

"Bell, this—" She was interrupted by a shrill scream from outside.

They exchanged quick glances before scrambling to stand. Bellamy pushed the tent flap out of the way and they re-emerged into the camp. A group was already starting to congregate around the west side of the grounds, outside the finished part of their wall. With biting looks on their faces, they started towards the crowd. The teenagers parted to let them pass and Jinny couldn't believe what she saw at the end of the line.

It was Wells.

He was dead.

"Did anyone see anything?!" Jinny shouted, her eyes scanning the entire crowd as she racked her brain for missing faces. Miller and Jones were digging a grave behind her as she stood by the entrance of the gate. Bellamy had gone to inform the princess, and she hadn't wanted to be there when Clarke received the news.

"Must have been Grounders," Murphy said to her right. "Caught him off on his own."

She looked at him, her mind racing with different scenarios and explanations. It made sense for it to be a Grounder attack. It could have been some kind of warning. Jinny turned back to the crowd, their frightened and concerned faces looking up at her.

"Nobody goes off on their own, got it?" she told them. "We're stepping up patrols, with sentry units in each direction. I want traps and alarms all along the perimeter. Nobody wanders off on their own, stay in groups. Is that clear?"

A few people nodded their heads but the majority were still staring at her with vacant gazes. Jinny sighed and took a step forward, her features sharpening into hard stone. "Is that clear?!" she enunciated each word, the syllables flying off her tongue like hot knives.

"Yes!" they finally replied in unison.

"Good." She turned to Murphy. "Check the trees. Make sure we're secure... and hurry up with that damn wall."

He gave her a firm nod before waving for John to join him. Jinny looked over her shoulder to the two boys that were now covering Wells' grave and frowned. A blaze of anger sparked inside her chest when she thought of the boy and how they had found him; a puncture hole on the side of his neck and tips of his fingers missing. He'd been there the entire night and nobody had noticed. The only reason he was there was because he was digging Atom's grave.

"YES!" A yell suddenly erupted from the dropship, startling everyone within the camp. "I DID IT! JINNY, I DID IT!"

She frowned quizzically before starting off towards the direction of Monty's voice. The boy looked up at her when she entered the ship, a wide grin plastered across his face. Clarke and Finn were with him, and Jinny's eyes landed on the wristband that used to be the blonde's. Jinny approached them with quick footsteps, eyes lighting up with excitement.

"You did it?" she asked breathlessly.

"Monty needed a working wristband." Clarke shrugged, looking at Finn smugly.

"And you needed to punish your mother," Finn retorted pointedly. Jinny didn't care about their family drama as she took the wristband from Monty and examined the luminous blue dots on the needles. She almost felt the dawning of hope.

"Look, they're running out of air, and we need their help," Clarke said. "My mother thinking I'm dead is only temporary."

"Not if I can't patch it through the dropship mainframe," Monty told them. "I can do it. We'll be talking to the Ark by nightfall."

Jinny clapped him on the shoulder and bent down to kiss him on the cheek. "You got this, Monty."

His grin grew impossibly wider until he looked like he would burst, nodding his head fervently.

"I got this!" he exclaimed, almost jumping to work on the wires in the central processor.

Jinny chuckled lightly before leaving him to it and stepping out of the dropship again. She scanned the camp where most of the teens were helping to finish the wall on the north side. They were carrying large metal grates from the ship and cutting down beams of wood to reinforce the structure. She went to inspect the fortifications and was about to check on weapons when something caught her eye, making her stop. Her face scrunched up with disgust as Murphy unzipped his pants and started pissing on Connor.

"What the hell is wrong with you, Murphy?!" he yelled angrily but a couple of boys rushed forwards to hold him back.

Murphy sneered and shrugged. "You wanted a water break. Now get back to work!"

Jinny started towards them, clenching her jaw into a straight line, when a hand shot out to grab her arm. She looked up at Bellamy and he shook his head. "No need to make things worse, okay?"

"Make things worse?" she responded, aghast. "They need discipline, and maybe a lash."

He shook his head once more and opened his mouth to argue when someone called their names loudly. They looked around to see Clarke standing next to her tent and beckoning for them to join her urgently. Frowning, Bellamy let go of Jinny's arm and they made their way towards the blonde. When they slipped under the tent flap, they saw Octavia and Jasper were there as well. Everyone had somber looks on their faces, eyes downcast and focused on two things on the makeshift table.

Three severed digits and a knife.

"What the hell is this?" Jinny asked.

"Jasper found them outside the wall," Octavia explained. "Where Wells was killed."

The older woman went forwards immediately and picked the knife up, her eyes flicking back and forth as she examined both artefacts. She turned to Bellamy who had a perplexed frown on his face, seemingly having put two and two together as she had.

"This knife was made of metal from the dropship," Clarke pointed.

"It is..." Jinny swept her gaze across the room at the others. "This is Murphy's knife."

"Murphy killed Wells?" Jasper asked. "Now we have a murderer in the camp?"

"There's more than one murderer in this camp," Bellamy interjected. "This isn't news. We need to keep this quiet."

Clarke started to the entrance of the dropship but Bellamy quickly intercepted her. She looked up at him angrily. "Get out of my way, Bellamy."

"Clarke," his voice was filled with warning. "Be smart about this. Look at what we've achieved; the walls, the patrols... Like it or not, believing the Grounders killed Wells is good for us."

"Oh, good for you, you mean?!" she spat. "What... keep people afraid and they'll work for you? Is that it?"

"Yeah. That's it." Bellamy nodded seriously. "Fear of the Grounders is building that wall, Clarke."

"He's right, princess," Jinny agreed, crossing her arms. "There'll be consequences. Besides we're just making assumptions here, we don't have any real proof."

Clarke went over and swiped the knife from her hand. The blonde held it up in front of her, eyes heated with anger. "This is all the proof I need, Jinny. It wouldn't be the first time this knife had cut Wells."

Before Bellamy could stop her again, she stormed out of the tent. Jinny rolled her eyes, muttering a curse under her breath, before chasing after the girl with the others hot on her heels. They heard Clarke's voice ring shrilly in the air as she approached Murphy and shoved him on the shoulder.

"You son of a bitch!" she shrieked.

"What's your problem?" Murphy looked at her, clearly annoyed.

She held up the knife. "Recognise this?"

The boy frowned in confusion, reaching a hand out for it. "That's mine. Where did you—"

"Where you dropped it after you killed Wells!" she accused, slapping his hand away.

"Where I what?" he scoffed. "The Grounders killed Wells, not me."

"I know what you did and you're gonna pay for it." Clarke leaned into his face threateningly.

"Clarke, that's enough!" Jinny elbowed her way through the gathering crowd to them. "We don't even have any witnesses, statements—"

"He threatened to kill Wells." Clarke pointed at the boy. "We all heard and saw him. He hated Wells."

"Plenty of people hated Wells," Murphy said. "His father was the Chancellor that locked us up."

"Yeah, but you're the only one who got into a knife fight with him!" the blonde continued to argue.

"Yeah, I didn't kill him then either." Murphy crossed his arms and rolled his eyes.

"Tried to kill Jasper too," Octavia supplied, a dirty look on her face as she stared stonily at Murphy.

"What?" Jasper's eyes widened with horror.

"Come on, this is ridiculous." Murphy shook his head, his tough exterior wavering slightly. "I don't have to answer to you. I don't have to answer to anyone."

"Come again?" Bellamy challenged.

Jinny looked at Murphy sharply and he visibly shrank away. She felt a thin coil of anger hiss inside her at his arrogant words and resisted the urge to punch him right where he stood. "That's not how it works," she said in a low voice.

"Bellamy, look, I'm telling you." Murphy approached the older man to plead his case. "I didn't do this."

"They found his fingers on the ground with your knife," Bellamy said.

"Is this the kind of society we want? You said there were no rules," Clarke raised her voice so everyone could hear her. "Does that mean we can kill each other without punishment? Without justice?"

"Clarke, stop it." Jinny stepped towards the girl with a quiet voice filled with apprehension.

"Look, I said I didn't kill anyone!" Murphy shouted in frustration.

"I say we float him!" someone suggested.

"Yeah," several people agreed readily. Jinny looked around as the teenagers started to close in like a mob. She thought back to all the things that Murphy had done; bullying the other kids, beating up Wells, taunting Atom, pissing on Connor. There was no doubt in her mind that even if Murphy hadn't actually been the one to kill Wells, the others still wanted his blood anyway. Because he was an asshole.

"Let's float him!" a kid yelled from the back.

"Wait," Clarke faltered. "That's not what I'm saying."

"Why not?" Connor asked. "It's justice."

"Revenge isn't justice!" she cried in outrage.

"It _is_ justice! Float him! Float him!" he started to chant and the rest of the kids picked it up quickly.

Murphy started forwards but someone tripped him and the boy fell sharply to the ground. The crowd immediately swarmed around him, finding opportunities to kick and punch at his exposed sides. Jinny took a step back as people started to jostle around her and her eyes locked with Clarke's.

"I told you there'd be consequences," she hissed angrily.

The blonde shook her head frantically, fear starting to take root as the delinquents shoved her out of the way to get their hands on Murphy. They grabbed and gagged him with a piece of cloth, bringing him out of the walls into the forest and letting him roll down the slope outside. Jinny exchanged a dark look with Bellamy, following the raucous crowd as they jeered and cheered at the same time.

"No, no, no! Wait! Get off him!" Clarke cried helplessly. She tried to pull people away but there were too many of them and Connor kept holding her back. She slammed into Bellamy, grabbing hold of his shirt desperately. "You can stop this! They'll listen to you!"

He looked up at Jinny who merely stared back impassively. Her cold eyes seemed like distant blackholes, unaffected by the scene that was happening in front of them. Connor had tied a noose and slung it around Murphy's neck. Myles tightened it and the group tugged on the rope, throwing one end over a tree. They hauled the boy up into the air and placed a crate under his feet. Murphy looked down at them desperately, hands bound, cuts and bruises decorating his face once again.

"Bellamy!" Connor called to him. "You should do it! Bel-la-my! Bel-la-my! Bel-la-my!"

"You're not a killer, Bellamy," Clarke continued to beg. "I know you're not. Please don't do this."

"Bellamy, don't..." Murphy shook his head, words muffled against the gag. "Please don't..."

Jinny looked around one more time at the vicious cries and bloodthirsty exuberance that surrounded them. Maybe they did need this- maybe they could find order in chaos. She looked back at Bellamy and slightly tilted her chin upwards. His jaw clenched, muscle twitching, then he whirled around furiously to face Clarke.

"This is on you, princess!" he yelled at her. "We warned you. You should've kept your mouth shut!"

He strode forwards, trembling hands clenched tightly at his sides as Clarke wailed behind him to stop. Murphy shook his head frantically with wide fearful eyes, then Bellamy kicked with a foot, sending the crate flying in the opposite direction. Murphy fell, the noose catching his neck from the sturdy branch above. The woods was filled with applause, punctuated with the chokes emanating from the shuddering boy. Finn had finally found them and pushed his way to the front of the crowd to stop what was happening but Connor pulled out a sharpened bolt on him. The cacophony of voices was suddenly pierced by a shrill childish voice that caught their attention and everyone turned around to look at its source.

"Stop it! Okay?! Murphy didn't kill Wells!" Charlotte shouted as loudly as she could. "I did!"

"Oh, my God," Clarke gasped, hands flying to her mouth as her eyes widened in horror.

"Shit," Jinny muttered when she finally took in what the little girl had said. She ran forwards, pulling her knife from her pocket and slashed at the rope around the tree. Murphy fell to the ground, wheezing and coughing for air, and she searched the crowd for Bellamy. His wide eyes filled with shock, revulsion and utter disbelief mirrored her own.

They screwed up big time.


	12. 10 stop trying

**CHAPTER 10**

* * *

 **EVERYTHING WAS A MESS** and none of them knew how to fix it. Jinny ran a hand through her messy dark hair as she paced the inside of the tent. It trembled with residual pain and she balled it into a fist instead, throwing dark glances around at the others. Charlotte sat in the corner with her eyes glued to her muddy shoes.

"Bring out the girl, Bellamy!" Murphy yelled from outside.

Jinny ducked under the flap and screamed at him. "Shut the hell up, or I'll shut you up!"

"Why, Charlotte?" Bellamy asked, his eyes troubled and weary.

"I was just trying to slay my demons, like you told me," she said, her small voice sending shivers down Jinny's spine. It was like she had absolutely no idea how terrible her actions had been. Was she that desperate to end the nightmares?

"What the hell is she talking about?" Clarke demanded fiercely, looking between the both of them.

"She misunderstood me." Bellamy quickly defended himself. "Charlotte, that is not what I meant."

"You can't hide her forever, Jinny!" Murphy continued to shout vehemently. She inhaled sharply but stopped herself from running out of the tent to pummel his stupid face back into the ground.

"Please don't let them hurt me," Charlotte whimpered, hugging her knees to her chest.

"Damn it." Jinny buried her face in her hands, then grasped at the roots of her hair. "She's just a little girl, Bell. What the hell are we supposed to do? I can't think of a single option where this will turn out okay."

He clenched his jaw, frown deepening, before looking up at Clarke and Finn. "If you guys have any bright ideas, speak up." Jinny turned to them expectantly as well but they averted their gazes silently. "Now you stay quiet. Great."

"Those are your boys out there," Finn said unhappily.

"This is not my fault," Bellamy told him firmly before looking pointedly at Clarke. "If she had listened to us, those idiots would still be building the wall."

"You wanted justice, princess?! Let's have justice! Bring her out!"

"No!" Charlotte cried loudly, clasping her hands against her ears. "Please, Bellamy. Jinny. Don't let them hurt me."

"It's okay." The older girl went forwards and stroked her hair. She could feel her heart fracturing into two—morality and mercy warring for dominance. This wasn't something that any of them could possibly walk away from unscathed. Murphy would never allow it. She looked up at Clarke and Finn, her eyes wide with evident distress. "Hide her. Bring her away. Run."

"Where would we go?" Clarke asked, swallowing nervously.

"I don't know—anywhere safe," Jinny asserted.

"It's alright." Finn nodded and exchanged glances with the blonde. "We'll do it."

Bellamy sighed heavily behind her. "Charlotte, stay with them, okay? Come on, Jin."

She turned around, sharing an apprehensive look with him, before they exited the tent. The crowd of teenagers stood behind Murphy, some of them looked shellshocked and others just seemed terrified of what was going to happen next. Murphy's lips twisted into a cruel smile when he saw the both of them approaching him.

"Well, well, well," he started. "Look who decided to join us."

"I love the sound you make when you shut up, Murphy," Jinny growled threateningly.

"Dial it down and back off," Bellamy advised, holding a hand out to emphasise his point.

Murphy scoffed derisively. "Or what? What are you gonna do? Hang me?"

"I cut your stupid rope down," Jinny hissed. "Don't make me regret it."

"After you let them string me up in the first place," he sneered back.

"We were just giving the people what they wanted," Bellamy said stiffly.

"Yeah?" Murphy started to pace around agitatedly. "Yeah, why don't we do that right now? So, who wants to see the real murderer hung up? All in favour?"

He raised his hand and looked back at the others in the crowd. Only a few raised their hands up—all of them from his gang. The rest of the kids refused to make eye contact with anyone else as they stood there with their heads hung low in shame. Jinny felt relief but her heart dropped when Murphy turned back to look at them with an expression of hurt hidden under a mask of scorn.

"I see," his voice was tight. "So it's okay to string me up for nothing, but when this little bitch confesses, you all let her walk? Cowards! All of you are cowards!"

"Hey, Murphy!" Bellamy bellowed. "Murphy, it's over!"

The boy stopped as he regarded the both of them in front of him. Then he nodded his head, apparently coming to grips with his situation. Jinny frowned, knowing that Murphy would never forget about this. There was a rift between him and everyone else now that could never be repaired.

"Whatever you say, boss." He lowered his head.

Bellamy sighed, then turned around to leave. Jinny followed after him and they were halfway across the clearing back to the tent when Bellamy suddenly went down beside her with a loud grunt of pain. His body fell heavily into the dirt and Jinny managed to whirl away just in time as Murphy swung a log at her head.

"Son of a—" She dropped herself to the ground as he made another attempt to strike her and kicked her leg out, managing to connect her foot with his shin. Murphy cried out, the piece of wood slipping from his hands. Two of his lackeys came up to grab her off the ground and she struggled against their restraints. Murphy quickly ran towards the tent and ripped away the flap, cursing loudly when he found that it was empty.

"Hey! Come on, let's get the girl!" he called to the others before sprinting into the woods and yelling at the top of his lungs, "Charlotte! Charlotte, I know you can hear me! And when I find you, you're gonna pay!"

The two boys that held Jinny flung her to the ground and she scraped her elbow from the fall. She scrambled to her feet just as Octavia ran forwards to help her up, and they hurried towards Bellamy to check if he was okay. Jinny ran her hand through his hair to feel for any open wounds, fingers brushing across a bump at the back of his head to the right of his crown and she quickly hauled him up.

"What the—" he started, blinking blearily.

"That asshole got you pretty good," she told him, holding an arm around his waist and pressing a hand against his chest to keep him upright. "Hey, you okay?"

"I'll be fine." He shook his head but it didn't seem like he was okay. Bellamy took a step forwards before his knees buckled and Jinny had to strain her muscles to stop him from falling over. He weighed like a block of cement and it was in that moment when she truly understood the meaning of dead weight.

"You're not fine, come on." She brought him back into the tent with Octavia's help. They deposited him on a chair and Jinny darted out of the tent. The crowd was still gathered outside, looking around in bewilderment, before she shooed them away to do something useful. She quickly ducked into her tent to grab a torchlight and her knife before returning to the previous tent.

"What's gonna happen now?" Octavia asked as she handed a bottle of water to Bellamy.

"I need to find Charlotte before Murphy does," she replied. "God knows what he'll do to her."

"Wait, I'll go with you," Bellamy said.

"Bell, you can barely stand." Jinny furrowed her brows with an amused smile.

With considerable effort, he pushed himself up to his feet and took a deep breath. He squeezed his eyelids shut before turning to her with a hard nod, voice gruff with concentration. "Yes, I can."

She rolled her eyes before grabbing his hand. "Such a man. Let's go then."

"Octavia, stay in camp!" Bellamy called to his sister before tearing through the forest after Jinny.

They ran as fast as they could, following the sounds of Murphy's frantic search. His furious voice rang loudly throughout the entire woods and she was afraid that they would find something more than a little girl from all the cacophony he was raising. They had put some distance between them and the camp when Jinny stopped. Murphy's yelling had become less incessant and she guessed that he might be plotting something, so she pulled the flashlight from her pocket as night started to descend on them.

Bellamy breathed heavily next to her and she looked up to make sure that he was okay. Maybe the exercise had done some good for his brain, he didn't look completely out of it at any rate. He caught her gaze and touched her arm.

"We can't let him get to her," he said with trepidation.

"Don't worry, we'll figure this out," she told him, then added in a mutter, "How did we even end up in this situation?"

"Because I opened my god damn mouth," he sighed. "I never should have said anything."

"Neither of us would know she'd take it the wrong way, Bell." Jinny patted his hand. "Come on, they couldn't have gotten that far."

"I miss hearing you call me that," he said quietly.

"Well, I miss calling you that." She turned to smile at him.

They continued through the darkness that shrouded the forest in a heavy veil. Jinny had switched off her flashlight when they found that silence was now their only guide through the twisting trees. Her breaths were shallow with anticipation because they both knew that Murphy was not the only one they needed to hide from. Out here, there were worst things than the wrath of a seventeen year old boy. She was consistently aware of everything around her, senses heightened due to the disquiet in her head.

"We've been searching for hours," Bellamy whispered beside her. "Maybe we should head back. Continue in the morning."

"Wait." She turned sharply to the side. "Did you hear that?"

He followed her gaze and saw a figure shooting out from the shadows of the foliage about fifty meters on their left. The little girl's small silhouette gave her away instantly and Bellamy sprinted in her direction, determined not to lose sight of her. Jinny bounded after him, trying to make as little noise as possible by running on the balls of her feet. She saw Bellamy skid to a halt, grabbing Charlotte around the middle and clamping a hand shut against her mouth to muffle her screams.

"Screamer, hey, sshh." Jinny stopped in front of her and held her arm. "It's us, be quiet."

Charlotte turned to look at them, eyes wide and confused through the thin light penetrating the canopy. They could hear Murphy and his boys starting to call again in the distance. Bellamy quickly pulled the little girl away in the opposite direction but she struggled against his hold while kicking up a huge fuss.

"Let me go!" her voice was fierce. "Stop it!"

"Hey, we're trying to help you." Bellamy paused and turned to her.

"I'm not your sister!" she retorted. "Just stop helping me!"

Suddenly, she turned around and started running back, screaming at the top of her lungs to give away their position. Jinny caught hold of her and gripped her arm in an iron vice.

"Are you crazy?" the woman hissed. "Do you wanna die?"

"You're gonna get us all killed," Bellamy said.

"Just go, okay?" Charlotte looked at them. "I'm the one they want!"

He crouched down in front of her and held the sides of her arms. "Charlotte, listen to me. We won't leave you."

" _Please_ , Bellamy," she said to him before trying to make a run for it again. She didn't reach very far though since Jinny still had a grip on her, and Bellamy decided that enough was enough. He lifted Charlotte up in the air and tossed the girl over his shoulder. She continued to struggle and scream on his back as they walked away.

"NO! MURPHY, I'M HERE!"

"COME ON OUT, CHARLOTTE! COME ON OUT!" came Murphy's reply through the monotonous gloom.

"Screamer, seriously, do you wanna bring an entire army down on us?" Jinny asked scathingly.

Bellamy picked up his pace, heading towards a part of the forest that thinned out into a clearing. They broke through the line of trees and found the light of the moon bearing down on them in all its glory. In front of them was a steep drop off a rocky cliff that faced the sea. Its tranquil waters down below looked like a sheet of glass that was waiting to be shattered. Bellamy set Charlotte down as Murphy's voice grew louder, no thanks to the girl's unrelenting screams.

"Damn it," Jinny muttered as they looked around.

The foliage behind them shuddered before Murphy tore through the leaves, his voice now clear and crisp in the night. The flames from his torch flickered against their faces with an orange sheen and more boys came to light up the small area they were standing in. A gentle sea breeze came from behind as Jinny turned to face the group of boys, holding Charlotte protectively between herself and Bellamy. She could smell the salt in the air together with the coppery murderous intent.

"You can't fight all of us," Murphy said. "Give her up."

"Wanna see me try?" Jinny bared her teeth.

"I can guarantee I'll take a few of you with me," Bellamy told him.

They turned at the sound of Clarke's voice as she and Finn managed to find them, stumbling onto the cliff. Guessing from the distress in her eyes, she hadn't been separated from Charlotte on purpose.

"This has gone too far," Clarke said. "Just calm down, we'll talk about this." She turned to Murphy who regarded her almost with boredom.

His lips curled, somewhere between a taunting smile and a sneer. Then he reached out quickly and grabbed hold of Clarke, drawing a blade against the blonde's throat. "I am so sick of listening to you talk," he said lowly.

"Let her go!" Finn started forwards.

"Back off!" Murphy snarled. "Or I'll slit her throat."

"No, please!" Charlotte cried, tears starting to well in her eyes. "Please don't hurt her."

"Don't hurt her?" Murphy turned back to them. "Okay, I'll make you a deal. You come over here right now and I'll let her go."

"Don't do it, Charlotte," Clarke said and Jinny pulled the little girl closer. Charlotte stubbornly took a step forwards but Bellamy held an arm out to stop her, pushing her back as she struggled against him again.

"Charlotte, stop!" Jinny raised her voice sternly as she grabbed the back of the girl's jacket.

"No! I have to!" she yelled shrilly, beating her small fists against Bellamy's arm. He grabbed her shoulder gently, forcing her to look at him and he shook his head firmly.

"Murphy, this is not happening," he then told the boy.

"I can't let any of you get hurt anymore," Charlotte said, her voice filled with defeat. "Not because of me. Not after what I did." She took hold of Jinny's hand and looked up at the older woman's face. A single tear ran down her soft cheek, tumbling down to the ground from the end of her chin. Jinny felt her heart breaking as she peered down at this young girl who had so much to live for, but didn't know how.

"We are infinite," she said, repeating the words Jinny had said back in the cave. Those words that had been meant to instil courage and hope.

But Charlotte wanted it all to end, so she turned around and jumped.


	13. 11 break even

**CHAPTER 11**

* * *

 **HELL HATH NO WRATH** compared to the blazing inferno rising inside her chest. Jinny felt the fury consuming her, the echo of the girl's body hitting the surface of the water was like ignition fuel. Clarke had rushed towards the edge, peering over the cliff face while continuing to cry out in dismay.

Bellamy looked at Jinny, saw the heated glare in her eyes as she slowly turned around. "Jin..." he called coaxingly but he may as well be talking to the wind. She balled her hands into tight fists, skin stretching taut over white knuckles. Her dark gaze met with Murphy's and he stared back at her in mild surprise. It turned into full fledge terror when she took a step in his direction.

"J-Jinny..." he started nervously before she lunged at him, throwing her body in the air and slamming against his. They toppled to the ground with flailing limbs and a feral scream tore through her throat. Her rage was vehement; the product of years and years of pent up emotion.

The sickening crunch of bone against bone tore through the night as she fumed and cursed at the boy beneath her. Clarke shouting for her to stop was just background noise, then she felt a pair of brawny arms circle around her waist. They pulled her away but she continued to lash out, managing to get a last good kick at Murphy's leg. Bellamy held her tightly against his chest, enveloping her slim frame entirely in a full body lock.

"LET ME GO!" she screamed, her voice pitching at the end. "I'LL KILL HIM!"

"Jin, stop," Bellamy said, his voice wavered slightly with fear at her violent outburst. "Let me handle this."

"No!" Clarke cried sharply, stepping in between them and the writhing boy still on the ground. "We don't get to decide who gets to live and die!"

"Screw you, princess!" Jinny shrieked.

"He deserves to die, Clarke!" Bellamy retorted forcefully.

"We don't make that call, not down here!" the blonde yelled.

The man paused but his grip around the frantically livid girl in his arms remained firm. All Jinny could think about was how harrowingly familiar Charlotte's death had been. Those words she repeated before she jumped weren't just empty words to Jinny, they were a mantra that had kept her alive. They were the last words her mother had spoken to her before she was floated, and now they were tainted.

"So help me, Clarke, if you say that the _people_ have a right to decide—" Bellamy started.

"No!" She shook her head fervently. "No. I was wrong before, okay? You were right." It felt good to hear the girl admit it out loud but Jinny wasn't in the mood for any victory dances as Clarke continued, "Sometimes it's dangerous to tell people the truth. But if we're gonna survive down here, we can't just live with whatever the hell we want. We need rules."

"And who makes those rules, huh?" Bellamy asked as Jinny calmed down, though her breathing was still ragged. "You?"

"For now, _we_ make the rules. Okay?" She looked between the two of them for agreement.

"So what now?" Jinny's lips curled with derision. "Pretend that none of this happened? That we didn't almost hang him for something he didn't do, and a little girl didn't just commit suicide after she murdered someone?"

"We can't just take him back and do that." Bellamy clenched his jaw.

"No." Clarke paused, frowning with uncertainty before turning to look down at Murphy. Fresh blood covered his face yet again, flowing freely from his nose and wounds. His lip was split and purple bruises were starting to bloom across his cheekbones. Jinny could still feel the force of her knuckles against his skin and she wished she could do more than just beat the crap out of the boy.

Clarke turned back to them with new resolve in her eyes. "We banish him."

Jinny scoffed but Bellamy let go of her, almost throwing her to the side in his haste. He stomped forwards and roughly hauled Murphy off the ground, dragging the boy towards the edge of the cliff. Clarke cried out in surprise, her first instinct to stop him from whatever he was trying to do at that moment. Jinny turned around and watched as Bellamy gripped the boy's collar tightly. Their faces were merely inches apart as the older man's face twisted into a nasty scowl. "If I ever catch you in camp," he said. "We'll be back here. Understand?"

Murphy nodded weakly before Bellamy threw him back down onto the ground. He turned to the three other boys that had been with him. "As for the rest of you, you can come back and follow us... or go off with him to die. Your choice."

From the expressions on their faces, the decision seemed pretty clear. Bellamy grabbed Jinny's arm and gently guided her away from the cliff, back into the forest. "Come on, Jin. We're done here."

But to Jinny, it felt like only the beginning.

The dropship had started to smell of mildew and rust. The table in front of them was strewn with gadgets, tools and various equipment. The wristband was currently its centrepiece.

"But will we be able to talk to them?" Clarke asked.

"No, more like Morse Code." Monty looked up, his eyes meeting with Jinny. She bit the nail of her thumb in agitation, her nerves still riled up from the day's previous events.

Everyone was standing anxiously around the boy as he tinkered with the mechanics that were hooked up to the working wristband. Jinny's eyes continued to flicker as she tried to find a single flaw in their hardware. It was crude, hastily thrown together, and theoretically, it should work.

"Wanna do the honours?" Monty looked around for his friend.

Jasper shuffled forwards, his dark hair messily framing his face. Monty handed him a red wire and gestured towards the wristband. "That port right there."

The boy had an almost excited smile on his face, and Jinny could feel her heart stuttering in her chest. With a surprisingly steady hand, Jasper fastened the wire to the port and there was a small spark accompanying the connection. Suddenly, all their wristbands started to flare and fizzle out. Cries of surprise and pain rang throughout the camp from outside and Jinny picked up a piece of metal from the table to fling it against the wall.

"God damn it!" she shouted in frustration.

"What happened?" Clarke asked.

"It didn't work." Monty leaned in to inspect the damage. "I think... we fried all the wristbands."

"Transmission terminated," Jinny stated dully before sulking out of the dropship. Finn went after her, with Clarke following, going off in different directions.

Jinny veered right, heading towards the outer perimeter of the camp before stopping by the wall. The wristbands had been the only thing that they had to reach the Ark and now it was gone. There must have been a faulty component, or a split wire that she missed. It wasn't good enough, nothing she did was ever good enough.

"Hey."

Jinny whirled around, her eyes landing on Bellamy's bare chest before correcting her gaze to his face. He looked concerned, but mostly confused.

"What happened?" he asked, cocking his head upwards in question.

"We killed our only connection to the Ark." She shrugged as if it didn't bother her, but the sinking pit in her chest stated otherwise.

"Oh," Bellamy frowned slightly. "Well, we knew it would be a long shot anyway. I'd have eaten my boots if it actually worked."

She smirked. "I'd have loved to see that."

He shrugged his broad shoulders, muscles rippling with the small movement. Jinny sighed and turned away, heading towards her usual spot under a tree near the camp fire. Bellamy followed after her, like a shadow on the prowl. "Jin," he started. "It's okay, you know. We don't need help from the Ark. We can survive down here on our own."

"It's not us that I'm worried about, Bell." She stopped, feeling a knot wrestling itself inside her. She bit her lip. "It's them up there that I'm worried about."

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"I—" she hesitated. "My dad is still up there too, you know. I give him a lot of shit but he's my dad. I promised—"

Jinny suddenly lapsed into silence, her brows knitted tightly together. There was a flash of indiscernible emotion in her eyes as she thought back to those memories she tried desperately to keep hidden away. Lying had always been her preferred method of choice, and the words on the tip of her tongue tasted of poison.

"I promised myself that I'd give him hell on earth, and well, I don't wanna blow that chance."

Bellamy sighed, but whether or not he believed her wasn't something she could tell from his passive expression. Eventually, she retreated once again and he followed after her. "What do you want?" She threw him an annoyed glance.

"I can tell when you're lying, Jin," he said. "What is it that you're not telling me?"

"It's nothing, okay?" she snapped back, feeling heat rising in her chest. She still hated how he knew her so well.

He stared at her, the flickering light from the flames nearby dancing in his dark eyes. They seemed to be able to look through the shrouds she wrapped herself up in, tearing them apart with his unwavering gaze.

"Look, it's nothing." She looked away. "I just hate being wrong."

"Jin—"

"Whoa, look!" she exclaimed, taking the opportunity to divert his attention. There was a shooting star streaking across the sky, a singular golden fleck that seemed lost in time. She couldn't help but smile at it, burning incandescence that would soon be lost in the endless void of space, disintegrating into stardust.

"What is that?" Bellamy frowned.

"It's a shooting star."

"No..." They continued to watch as the fleck grew larger, dropping quickly through their atmosphere. There was a loud sound, like engines tearing apart, before landing ruthlessly against the ground in the distance. "It's a pod falling from the Ark."


	14. 12 say something

**CHAPTER 12**

* * *

 **HOPE WAS AN UNFAMILIAR SENTIMENT** and yet it was the only thing Jinny could feel at that moment. Everyone was busy scuttling around the campsite, trying to figure out what they had just seen. Some people thought that the Ark was sending more people down to the ground but it was too small to be another dropship. The pod could possibly be supplies, medicine, maybe even a working radio. She wanted to get her hands on it.

"No, I say we wait until dawn," Bellamy said.

"Well, I say you can screw yourself," she retorted as she started to grab some gear.

"Jin," he lowered his voice as he stopped her from hurrying out of the tent. "If there are Grounders out there, they know the terrain better than we do. They might be setting up an ambush as we speak and getting caught in the dark isn't going to help anyone."

"I'm pretty good in the dark," she told him. "In fact, I'm excellent."

"I can't risk you dying." He turned her around and she looked into his earnest eyes. There was a strange feeling in her chest, but she couldn't discern what it was. Jinny let out a sigh and dropped her things back onto the table.

"Fine." She glanced at Octavia before the both of them left his tent.

They circled the camp in agitation, keeping a lookout for any suspicious behaviour. Most of the delinquents were chattering excitedly, wondering whether the Ark was going to join them soon. Jones put most of the torches out an hour before dawn, when the first tendril of light seeped through the darkened sky.

When the sun was finally broke through the horizon, Octavia nudged Jinny's side and cocked her head towards the opposite side of the camp. Bellamy's tall figure slipped out through a gap in the wall and disappeared into the forest.

"Come on," Jinny said, quickly getting up to go after him. Octavia was close by her side as they meandered around the groups of kids and snuck out the same way as Bellamy. Jinny patted her back pocket, making sure that she had her knife close at hand. They broke out into a brisk jog when they saw the man doing the same, making their way deeper through the thicket.

Finally, he slowed down enough for them to catch up and Octavia called out to him sharply. Bellamy turned around, his face apprehensive when he saw them. "What are you doing?" she asked.

"Go back to camp, it isn't safe," he told her.

"You lied to everyone," Octavia said. "You lied to us. You just want whatever's in that pod."

"Just go!" Bellamy roughly shoved at his sister's shoulder, making her stumble backwards.

"Bellamy, what the hell?!" Jinny protested loudly, stepping in between them.

"You always wanna play the big brother, huh?" Octavia continued. "Well, guess what? Joke's on me, you're just a selfish dick."

"I did this for _you_!" Bellamy snapped. "For both of you. To protect you. The Ark finds out we're alive, they'll come down and when they do... I'm dead."

"Wait, what do you mean you're dead?" Jinny asked.

"What did you do?" Octavia frowned.

He hesitated, glancing towards Jinny with apparent uneasiness. "I shot him. I shot Jaha."

"What?" Octavia's voice lowered to a deathly whisper as she visibly blanched. Jinny stared at him with widened eyes, her mind going back to the gun he had brought along with him. An uncomfortable feeling sat on her chest, making her feel nauseous.

"I found out they were sending you to Earth," Bellamy went on. "I couldn't let you go alone. Someone came to me with a deal. Do this—kill him—and they'll get me on the dropship." He paused. "And I did it."

"You killed the Chancellor?" Octavia asked.

"He floated our mother," he told her. "He locked you up. He deserved it."

She shook her head, looking back at him with hard eyes. "I didn't ask you to do that."

Bellamy bit his lip before nodding curtly. He made a face as if swallowing something bitter down his throat. "You're right, I made a choice. This is on me. Whatever they sent down, I'll take care of it."

"I didn't ask for any of this," Octavia said, her voice shuddering. Bellamy looked at her sadly as she whirled around and ran back to camp. He turned towards Jinny, who was looking at the ground thoughtfully.

"You should go after her," he said.

"Who told you?" she asked, voice soft. He stiffened, his gaze holding fear and dread as he looked back at her. Jinny raised her voice, the flare of anger evident in her tone. " _Who gave you the gun, Bellamy?_ "

"It doesn't matter." He shook his head, turning around to continue his previous trek.

Jinny went after him obstinately, grabbing his arm and pulling him to a stop. He looked down at her with obvious unease, her eyes boring holes into his head as she stared back at him heatedly. The feeling in her chest continued to expand, like a stream of poison flooding her veins.

"It was just another radical, okay?" He tried to shake her off but he forgot how tenacious she could be when she wanted to.

The girl twisted his arm painfully, earning a cry of pain from him as she bent his wrist into his forearm. She stepped to the side, pulling him forwards and pinning his arm awkwardly behind his back, before pushing him into a tree. Bellamy grunted as his face pressed against the rough bark.

"Are you telling me the truth?" she asked dangerously.

"Yes, for God's sake, let me go!" he cried out.

Jinny clenched her teeth but released her grip on the man nonetheless. She took a step back as Bellamy staggered away from her, massaging his wrist with a slight grimace. He looked at her as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Why did you say it was for me too then?" she questioned. "How did you know I was going to be on the dropship?"

"I didn't," he said quickly. "You just happened to be here when I was telling Octavia."

She eyed him dubiously before remembering that he had been up to something before their little scuffle. Bellamy seemed to as well, turning around to look out into the distance. There was a faint trail of smoke wafting into the sky from the crash site.

"What did you want to find?" she asked him. "Why did you lie to everyone and came out here on your own?"

"I just wanted to make sure it was safe," he told her gruffly. "Scout out for any potential threats."

Jinny scoffed, then thought that she probably would have done the same. "Fine, let's go then." She went ahead of him, boots stomping through the foliage. Bellamy quickly went after her and they made their way towards the river.

The trees started to thin out as they drew closer to the pod, and Jinny slowed down her pace. She dropped into a crouch, looking around the trees cautiously for any sign of movement. All around her, she could hear the rustle of leaves in a faint breeze and small animals calling out to each other nearby. They eventually reached open ground where the underbrush seemed to flourish vibrantly from the water source nearby.

In front of them sat the pod in its wreckage. Some parts had flown off through entry, which was no big surprise. Static from the radio caught her attention and she could somewhat make out the voice that was speaking. It sounded like Jackson, continuously asking for a response like he was on loop. The vessel looked ancient, even more archaic than the dropship. Jinny would be surprised if there was anyone actually inside that thing, let alone survive the landing trip. Why did the Ark send supplies down in this thing? Were they really being that frugal?

Bellamy opened the hatch and she cried out in shock.

"What the actual living _fuck_?!"

"Wow, fucking language," he shot her an incredulous look.

There was an actual human being inside, decked out in a pressure augmented space suit. There was a crack on the helmet and blood was smeared on the other side. She went closer to inspect the person further, frowning at the feminine features behind the polycarbonate visor. Jinny suddenly started when Bellamy pulled out his knife and cut off the wire to the radio, yanking it out of the pod.

The static immediately died, a shocked silence taking place in its wake.

"What the hell, Bellamy?!" she shouted as he ran off.

She sprinted after him, yelling obscenities at his back and ignoring the scratches of stray branches catching against her skin. They tore through the dense underbrush again, and she could hear the rushing surge of water from the river up ahead. Bellamy stopped about fifteen meters away from her and she watched in horror as he flung the radio into the stream. Jinny skidded to a halt next to him as her jaw dropped in disbelief, the tide having completely swallowed up the piece of equipment already.

"You stupid idiot!" she screamed, pushing Bellamy into the water with a loud splash.


	15. 13 star tide

**CHAPTER 13**

* * *

 **HOLDING ON TO ANGER** was like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die. In Jinny's current predicament, that was accurately true. She glared down at Bellamy as he stood up from the river bed, throwing water out of his hair with a vigorous shake of his head. Pushing the sodden locks from his face, he looked up at her with pleading eyes. Her wilting stare could curdle any known substance or composition in the entire universe.

"Jin," he started when she suddenly hurled herself forwards, dropping forcefully into the stream along with him. A wave splashed up into his face from her fall and he wiped the droplets away once more. His composure faltered, eyes widening in horror when he saw her taking a step towards him. He quickly moved away instinctively.

"Get back here!" she yelled at the top of her lungs, her voice holding a feral growl. "Bellamy Blake, I am going to drown you right here in this fucking river!"

The taller, larger man in front of her shook his head before turning around to flee. He retreated towards the opposite bank, his longer strides easily putting a safe distance between them. Despite the fact that she was small and probably only weighed about a hundred pounds, she was capable of beating down an opponent three times her size. He had witnessed it first hand before, and he obviously had no intention of experiencing it personally.

"You know I had to do it! I told you, they'll kill me!" he shouted.

"Now _I'm_ going to kill you!" she screamed back.

He turned back around to trudge through the reeds and silted sediment, tripping over a rock in his haste. His shirt clung tightly around his defined torso as his pants dripped heavily onto the ground. Jinny picked up her pace, crossing towards the other side just in time to see the man take off into the underbrush on her right.

"Yeah, you better run!" she yelled. "The next time I see you, you're gonna be dead! You hear me?!"

Jinny scoffed angrily as the only reply to her warning was the shudder of leaves and twigs breaking under heavy foot falls in the direction of Bellamy's escape. She continued to glare at the sounds, hands on her hips, when she suddenly heard something resembling laughter followed by a crash in the trees. It came from somewhere nearby, above a bend in the river upstream. She strained her eyes to find its source, swearing she heard the voice crying out in pain. Maybe Bellamy had ran in that direction and slipped while he was running. Good.

With another indignant huff, she whirled around and marched back to the crash site while grumbling underneath her breath. She pushed through overhanging branches with unnecessary strength, creating an obvious trail behind her. When she grew closer to the pod, she could hear voices calling out. Her heart skipped a beat, hoping that it was someone from their group.

Jinny hurried forwards, emerging from the thicket at a casual jog. She stopped next to Clarke's slack figure staring blankly at the couple in front of them. The boy was Finn, and the girl was—

"What the hell?" she exclaimed loudly. "Raven?!"

The slim brunette in the red jacket broke away from her ardent kiss to look around. Her face broke out into a wide grin when her gaze fell on the soaking wet girl.

"It's Jinny, the Sneak!" she cried out happily.

"You were the one inside that thing?"Jinny pointed at the pod with disgust.

"How did you get here?" Finn asked.

"You know that big scrap hold, the one on K deck?" Raven continued to grin.

"You built that from scrap?" he questioned in awe.

"I kind of rebuilt it." Raven shrugged with one shoulder as Finn laughed. "Please. Like that's hard. It just needed a couple of parts and some love."

"You're insane," he told her.

"I'd do more for you and worse. Just like you would for me." She suddenly stumbled sideways, taking in a gasping breath as Finn steadied her.

Jinny walked over to them. "The both of you are insane," she said, raising an eyebrow at Finn with an exasperated expression on her face. "She probably has a concussion from the landing. Didn't look pretty smooth to me."

"Come on, sit down here," Finn said coaxingly, guiding Raven backwards to a nearby rock. He took his jacket off and wrapped it around her shoulders. "Let me get something for that," he told her, caressing the wound on her forehead before heading over to Clarke.

Jinny dropped onto the ground next to Raven, who blinked at her as if truly seeing her for the first time. "Why are you all wet?" she asked curiously, wrinkling her nose.

"I was trying to bring back a large fish to roast for dinner tonight," Jinny replied, venom dripping all over her words.

"It must have been one huge ass fish," the girl laughed.

"You have no idea."

Finn came back with Clarke, handing Raven a piece of cloth from their pack. He placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "This is Clarke," he introduced. "She was on the dropship too."

"Clarke?" Raven repeated before standing up with a frown. She looked at the blonde with some relief. "This is all because of your mom."

"My mom?" Clarke questioned.

Jinny got up from the ground as well and Raven looked between the three of them. "This was all her plan. We were trying to come down here together. We waited—oh, my god—" She paused, her gaze dropping momentarily with apprehension. "We couldn't wait because the council was voting whether to kill three hundred people to save air."

"What?" Jinny blanched at the outrageous news.

Clarke sputtered from her own shock. "W-When?"

"Today!" Raven started back towards the pod anxiously. "We have to tell them you're alive!"

Jinny followed after her as the girl ducked underneath the hatch to search the pod. She felt her stomach drop when the full gravity of their situation hit her. "The radio's gone!" Raven cried, backing out and looking around on the ground. "It must have gotten loose through re-entry. I should've strapped it to the A-strut. Stupid!"

"No, no, this is my fault," Clarke said, her face ashen with panic. "Someone got here before us. We have to—" She froze, eyes lighting up with realisation before turning to stare at Jinny. Finn and Raven followed her gaze, and there was an inaudible click as their brains finally processed the significance of her presence.

"Jinny..." Clarke started slowly. "Was Bellamy with you?"

"Why do you think I'm all wet?" she retorted, throwing her hands up at the sides. "The stupid idiot threw the freaking radio into the river!"

Raven blinked at her again. " _You mean Bellamy Blake was the fish?_ "

They had decided to return to camp and round up a few volunteers to help them search the river for the radio. It would have been an utter miracle if the four of them were able to find it before the end of the day. Jinny was listening to Raven recount exactly how she managed to fix the pod from useless junk when she started. From the corner of her eye, she managed to spot a familiar figure in the distance. He was walking back to camp as well, and seemingly oblivious to their presence behind him. Raven cried out in surprise when Jinny suddenly took off in his direction at a quick sprint. Bellamy turned around too late when he heard her approach and she tackled him at full force, knocking the both of them down to the foliage strewn ground.

"I'm going to have _so_ much fun," she grinned evilly down at him.

"Jin, no!" He tried to get her off him but she grabbed his arm and pressed into the crevice of his inner elbow, right into the joint. The man cried helplessly under her mercy as she grabbed a fistful of his dark messy hair.

"What are you doing?!" Clarke cried in outrage when their group finally caught up to them.

"Are you hungry, Clarke?" Jinny asked. "I caught a big one."

"That is called cannibalism and is in fact frowned upon in most societies," Raven commented.

Bellamy managed to find an opening, grabbing her wrist and quickly using his size to an advantage. He rolled over, pushing her to the side and towards the ground where he could pin her down. Jinny growled angrily before kneeing him in the solar plexus. Bellamy immediately went down with the wind knocked out of him.

"Is nobody going to stop this?" Finn asked.

"Why? He deserves it." Raven gestured with slight amusement in her tone. "Stole my radio. Shot the Chancellor."

"Wait, what?" Clarke looked at her sharply as Jinny grabbed Bellamy's jacket and hauled him to his feet. She patted his back none too gently in an effort to ease the wheezing fit she had induced. "So that's why he took the wristbands! Needed everyone to think we're dead!"

"All that 'whatever the hell we want'?" Finn added. "You just care about saving your own skin."

Bellamy recovered himself and took off again without another word. Jinny was about to go after him when Raven beat her to it, darting after the man tauntingly. "You feel good about yourself, huh? Jacking my radio up? Hey! Shooter!"

"I should've killed you when I had the chance," he growled at her.

"Really?" Raven stood in front of him. "Well, I'm right here."

He suddenly grabbed her by the throat, forcing her into a tree. Raven's arm quickly shot up with her penknife in hand, pointed at his face threateningly. She cocked an eyebrow, teeth bared in a lethal smile as she dared Bellamy with her eyes. Jinny was reminded of why she liked the girl, and the reason she started to hang around Mecha more often—among other things.

"Okay, stop it!" Clarke said as she and Finn went up to them.

Bellamy glanced back at Jinny before letting go of Raven.

"Jaha deserved to die, you all know that," he said while walking away again.

"Yeah, he's not my favourite person either," Raven called after him. "But he isn't dead."

"What?" he turned back in confusion.

"You're a lousy shot," she told him.

"Bellamy, don't you see what this means?" Clarke went towards him and grabbed his arm. "You're not a murderer. You always did what you had to do to protect your sister. _That's_ who you are. And you can do it again, by protecting three hundred of your people. Help us look for the radio."

" _What?_ " he asked again.

Jinny crossed her arms and sighed heavily. "You dumb shit."

Jones had been the one to find the radio down stream, but the bad news was that they wouldn't be able to get it working on time. Instead of trying to fix it, Raven suggested that they make flares to signal the Ark. Jinny was excited to start the task as they went back to strip Raven's pod apart for raw materials.

"We need to launch those flares ASAP if we have any hope of saving those people," Raven said loudly as she bustled about giving instructions. "Finn, get that control panel to camp. You, pull out those firing circuits in one piece or they won't work!"

"Hey, be careful with that!" Jinny snapped at the boy next to her who was trying to pry out the auxiliary cables with a knife. "You have any idea how important each component is? And Miller, step away from that open circuit unless you want to electrocute yourself."

The boy stared at her with wide eyes as he slowly took a step away from the exposed circuit board. She sighed in exasperation and turned around to find Bellamy with his arms crossed and watching her intently.

"Can you be any less useless?" she asked.

"You're enjoying this," he observed. "Bossing people around."

"Yeah, now get your ass over here and help me carry this fuel cell back to camp," she pointed at the large bulky part next to her.

He rolled his eyes lightly before walking over and picking up one side of the battery. They made their way back to the camp as quickly as they could, following after the faint silhouettes of Finn and Jones in the distance. Bellamy tried to make small talk but she was still in no mood to entertain him. The hustling back at camp was made more chaotic by the prospect of their plan to contact the Ark. Raven was literally a godsend from the heavens above.

They worked endlessly until darkness fell around them, but everyone was still in good spirits. Jinny recruited Monty to help Raven assemble the parts of the flares in the middle of camp. It had seemed so simple in theory but their working conditions were pretty shit at best. The others tried to help with tasks that didn't require the use of physics.

Finally, Raven shouted for everyone to stand back and she smashed her hand on the button to launch the flares. They took off in a blaze of purple from the potassium elements in the fuel packs. Jinny stepped back as she craned her head upwards, admiring the streaks of light as the empty vessels travelled across the night sky. She bumped into Bellamy behind her and glanced at his profile lit up by the flickering lights.

"You think they can see it from up there?" he asked.

"I don't know," Clarke answered nearby. "I hope so... can you wish on this kind of shooting star?"

Bellamy gave her an odd look and she shook her head, telling them to forget about it.

"I wouldn't even know what to wish for," he told her. "What about you?"

Clarke gave a small shrug before directing her gaze over the crowd. Jinny watched as the flares grew smaller over time, the residue of their emissions hanging about like a glowing violet shroud in the night sky. It illuminated the trees surrounding them with an esoteric quality, their shadows dancing under the wake of burnt stars.

"I wish my mum would see this," she said quietly.

* * *

 **[ author's note ]**

 _hi guys! pretty please leave a review if you're enjoying this story and let me know what you think! thank you so much for reading! xx_


	16. 14 dead men

**CHAPTER 14**

* * *

 **THE WORST FEELING WAS NOT BEING LONELY** , it was being forgotten by someone you would never forget. The darkness of the night had fully settled over them, torches coming to life with orange sparks as their flickers dotted the camp like ghost lights. Jinny had been carving a spear from a long branch she'd found earlier when Bellamy came up to her. His eyes were deep with unfathomable fear, sparkling with panic under the flames of the torch he carried with him.

"Octavia is missing," he informed.

Her eyebrows furrowed as she felt her heart was pricked with concern. She swallowed, getting up from the ground and racking her brain for a reasonable explanation. "It's Octavia, she likes to wander," she told him.

"I've checked the entire camp, she's not here," he said.

"Have you checked the dropship? She could just be outside the walls—"

"Jin." He stopped her. "Clarke and I have checked every inch of the camp. I'm going to get some people, go out and look for her."

She nodded. "Okay. I'll go too, then."

He nodded back before hurrying off to somewhere. Jinny grabbed the spear she had just made and touched its tip, satisfied that it was sharp enough to cause harm. Bellamy came back not more than ten minutes later with some weapons he had scavenged, placing them on the ground in the middle of camp.

"Hey, everybody, gather around and grab a weapon," he called loudly. "My sister's been out there alone for more than twelve hours. Arm up. We're not coming back without her."

Monroe was the first to bend down and pick up a crudely made axe from the stockpile. Other kids went to follow suit and Jinny busied herself with grabbing more gear from her tent. She came out with a coil of rope and a small bag of medical supplies from Clarke- just in case. Jasper was just walking forward to pick up a weapon when she stopped next to Bellamy.

"We need a tracker," he said, glancing at Clarke who nodded, then raised his voice. "Finn! Get out here!"

"The last time we saw her was on the way to the river," Jinny said. "Bellamy, what if she was caught?"

She saw the muscle in his jaw contract dangerously, his eyes downcast and heated. He looked like he was trying his hardest not to run off into the woods on his own to look for his sister. Jinny had always doted on Octavia, but Bellamy loved her like only a brother would.

"Then we need to go now," he told her, making his way to the wall. "Finn, we're leaving!"

"Alright, I'm coming!" they heard the boy call from inside his tent.

Jinny followed after Bellamy closely with their search party right behind her. They made it halfway across the site when John started pointing towards the sky and making a huge fuss. She turned around to look out at the vast gloom when she saw a cluster of stray sparks showering down on them from space. The spray of glittering brilliance looked ethereal from the ground, like a cascade of constellations crashing down into an abyss from the heavens. It looked like the stars themselves were revolting against their own existence.

"What is that? It's so bright," Jasper said.

"It's so beautiful." Jones stared in awe.

"They didn't work." Raven emerged from her tent, joining them in their circle as they gazed off into the sky. "They didn't see the flares."

"A meteor shower tells you that?" Bellamy asked.

"That's not a meteor shower, Bellamy." Jinny looked at him in dismay.

Clarke turned to face them. "It's a funeral. Hundreds of bodies being returned to the earth from the Ark. This is what it looks like from the other side." She shook her head and looked to Raven. "They didn't get our message."

Raven's eyes locked onto Bellamy, and she started forwards angrily. "This is all because of you!"

Finn held her back as Bellamy raised a hand in protest. "I helped you find the radio!" he defended himself.

"Yeah, after you jacked it from my pod and trashed it!" the girl spat.

Clarke placed a hand on her shoulder and there was an edge in her voice when she spoke, "He knows. Now he has to live with it."

Bellamy took one more glance at the shooting stars before regarding them seriously. "All I know is that my sister is out there and I'm gonna find her. You coming or what?" There was a beat of silence. "Then what are we waiting for?" He raised his voice. " _Move out!_ "

Jinny exchanged a look of annoyance with Raven, the both of them rolling their eyes in exasperation. Jasper stood by the side and looked at them uncertainly as he waited for Finn. She just noticed that the boy was now sporting shorter locks than she remembered.

"We have to talk to them," Clarke said. "Three hundred won't be enough. The oxygen level will just keep dropping. And if we don't tell them that we can survive down here, they'll kill more people. They have to."

Jinny shifted uncomfortably at the choice of topic, turning around agitatedly. Bellamy had already disappeared into the woods with the other delinquents, their torches flickering in and out through the ghostly pale trunks.

"Guys, they're leaving. We gotta go," Jasper said.

"We tried making use of the wristbands to build a telegraph, you could use the parts we have and the ones from your pod," Jinny told Raven stiffly.

Finn held the girl's hand. "I gotta do this. And you should stay and fix the radio, okay?"

"Fix it?" Raven repeated incredulously. "The transmitter's smashed. Unless there's a parts depot down here, we're not talking to the Ark."

"Art supply store," Clarke said suddenly. Raven looked between them questioningly. "I might know a place where you can get a transmitter."

"Finn, hurry up, I'm going ahead," Jinny snapped before heading towards the gate without waiting for a response. She quickly caught up with the group, making her way to the front and walking alongside Bellamy. He glanced at her as she let her eyes roam the dense foliage, illuminated only by the flames of their torches and a couple of flashlights.

"Took you long enough," he said gruffly. "Thought you decided to stay back."

"I care about Octavia as much as you do," she said tensely. "Besides, Raven is the best mechanic we've had for like fifty years or something. She'll fix the radio."

He didn't speak after that as they continued to search the woods. They trekked to a point not that far away from their campsite, along a ravine that led towards the river. Finn had stopped them for a moment to pick up a trail, but it didn't make much sense. The footsteps that he had found were too large to be Octavia's—they were the size of a man.

"Grounder," Bellamy said, his voice laced with fury.

Finn started, darting forwards a few feet to the right. He crouched down and shone his flashlight at the ground. "These are Octavia's tracks," he said. The beam of light followed the path of her boots until they took a sharp turn into a section of dense shrubs.

"The Grounder was following her." Jinny walked over, her face drawn with fear. "He must have kidnapped her."

"Look! Over here!" John called loudly from the other side of the thicket.

Bellamy took off quickly towards the source of his voice, with Jinny right behind him. They stopped in front of a steep rocky incline where the boy was pointing into. "Right there, you see it?" he asked. "Is that Octavia's?"

"Rope," the man ordered. Jinny grabbed the coil slung around her shoulder. She bent down and tied one end of it to the sturdy stem of a small tree behind them. Bellamy took hold of the other end once she was done knotting it securely.

"What are you doing?" Finn asked.

"We need the rope to get back up," Bellamy replied, throwing the cord down into the ravine. "Flashlight." He nodded to John, who handed it to him, and pocketed the article before making his way down the line at a sideway clamber. Jinny fidgeted impatiently as he reached the bush and grabbed hold of the silver object hanging amongst its leaves.

"It's hers!" he announced. "I'm going all the way down!"

She sighed, readjusting the strap of the bag over her shoulder and securing her spear around it, before bending down to pick up the rope. "Are you serious?" someone asked as she started to descend the small hill to join Bellamy at the bottom. She glanced back up and saw that Jasper was next to go after her.

The girl landed on level ground with a soft grunt, looking around to find Bellamy crouched over some rocks with his searchlight out. She went over to him and saw blood spilled across the rocks in a thick sanguine trail. Jinny felt her stomach churn uncomfortably at the sight of the crimson liquid that was still somewhat fresh. Octavia was injured, defenceless, and possibly in the hands of a madman.

"Maybe she fell," she suggested, crouching next to him to look for more clues. "Hit her head right here."

"Seems that way," Bellamy agreed. "And she wasn't alone."

Jasper joined them, followed shortly by Finn who was carrying a torch. "Prints are deeper going that way," he pointed out. There was a moment as they tried to process the insinuation behind his observation. "He was carrying her."

"They took her, she's alive," Jasper said hopefully, before adding, "Like they took me."

"More bait?" Jinny frowned deeply, lowering her voice to a hiss. "Are we walking into a goddamn trap?"

Bellamy shook his head. "I need to find her."

He got up and hurried further down the ravine, following the footsteps in the muddy ground closely. She could practically see the worry on his brows, like he was wearing a heavy crown over his head. Finn sighed wearily from somewhere behind her as they continued on the path. The undergrowth started to grow thicker the longer they walked, large fronds and trees bearing various nuts surrounding them. Jinny felt a chill creep up her spine as the air felt colder in these parts.

After some time of trekking, she could see that there was something peeking out of the foliage. Bellamy stopped in his tracks, his face draining slightly of colour. Jinny could feel her own heart stop as she unconsciously held a breath, eyes widening in mute horror at the display in front of them. She exhaled sharply in disbelief, taking in the details of the decaying skeletons that were strung up from the branches or sitting high on top of pikes. Their forms were contorted, some of them in pain or twisted in various unnatural ways.

Shit. What had they just walked in to?

"I don't speak Grounder," Finn said. "But I'm pretty sure this means keep out."

"This is crazy." The delinquents started murmuring to each other.

"I'm outta here."

"Yeah, me too."

"Go back if you want," Bellamy told them. "My sister, my responsibility."

He walked forwards, ignoring the stained and brittle bones that greeted him. It felt like a death trap was just waiting for them on the other side. Jinny squared her shoulders, with a determined glint in her eyes.

"Let's go, don't waste time," she said before going after him.


End file.
